Chinese workers return to China after being trapped in Samarra

Chinese workers arrive at a hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 28, 2014. (Xinhua/Shang Le)

Over 1,200 Chinese workers trapped in Iraq's Samarra have returned to China. According to the Chinese foreign ministry's website, the workers had been trapped in a scene of continuing clashes between militants and government security forces. They were employed by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation which is building a 1.2 billion US dollars power plant in the north of Baghdad.

Close to twenty Chinese workers employed with China Machinery Engineering Corporation arrived in Shanghai on late Tuesday evening who fled the ongoing violence in Iraq. Shang Zhenhong is one of those employed with the company.

"Before we left the place like around two days ago, I heard explosion in the evening. I didn't go out of the construction site, I am not so clear what exactly happened in that area, all the information I have is from the news," Shang said.

Over 1,200 Chinese workers were being evacuated to the capital city, Baghdad since last Friday. The workers were building a $1.2 billion power plant in Samarra. The plant is situated north of Baghdad where Sunni Muslim insurgents linked to the militant group Islamic State of Iraq or ISIL have been fighting the Iraqi army.

Chinese state media reports the employees were transported out of Samarra to Baghdad by helicopter last Wednesday.

And according to state-run Xinhua news agency, the remaining employees were transported by bus and are staying in a hotel in central Baghdad.

In a statement the Chinese foreign ministry said: At present, the vast majority of Chinese citizens in Iraq are in safe and controlled areas.

The employees evacuated are part of more than 100,000 Chinese are now in Iraq, many work for Chinese firms. Their safety is still a great concern.