Contact with five Korean students who went backpacking in northern Sichuan Province right before a catastrophic earthquake hit the region has been cut off since Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Thursday.

Among them are Kim, a student at the Tianjin Foreign Studies University, and Ahn, a student at Pusan University of Foreign Studies who is studying at the Tianjin Foreign Studies University as an exchange student.

“It is not known whether it is because of poor communication in the region or because something has happened to them,” said an official at the ministry. The government is trying to locate them with help of the Chinese police.

(englishnews@chosun.com )