BEIJING, March 14 (Reuters) - An avalanche near a gas pipeline project in far western China buried at least 12 workers, with four confirmed dead, state media reported on Friday.

The snow-slide struck part of the west-to-east natural gas pipeline project in Xinjiang, where the workers were building a tunnel near Huocheng County, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Xinhua said 12 workers were trapped, including four who were later found dead. But the region's own official news Web site (http://www.tianshan.net) reported early on Friday that 20 were missing and one confirmed dead.

Dozens of rescuers struggled through snow drifts of more than 4 metres (13 feet) to reach the remote scene, in hill country, the Xinjiang report said.

Largely Muslim Xinjiang endures long, harsh winters, and temperatures at the disaster site were below freezing. "The rescue work is extremely tough," said Xinhua. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills)

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