41.   Rescue work was severely hampered because of the difficulty reaching the flood areas.

42.   Rescue work was hampered because of bad weather.

43.   Rescue workers and police complained that thousands of people were milling about the five-story-high pile of debris, hampering their work.

44.   Russian officials insist they have the republic almost under control and have launched efforts to rebuild its shattered infrastructure, but the continued violence has hampered the work.

45.   Schade said police work has been hampered by language barriers and the fear many Vietnamese feel for the police.

46.   Snow-clearing machines were working their way up the pass, but danger of new avalanches was hampering the work.

47.   Still, the simple use of radioactive material with conventional explosives could hamper rescue work, create a cleanup problem and cause fear and public panic, experts say.

48.   The floods swept away roads and railway tracks in many places, cutting off the flooded areas from the rest of the state and further hampering rescue work.

49.   The protesters also said the presence of a large number of representatives of smaller parties was hampering the work of the commission.

50.   The presence of mines and unexploded ordnance is hampering the work, McDonald said.