While trying to get over the nightmare he faced in Lhasa more than 10 days ago, Zhu Yifeng has been looking for a foreigner who saved him from knife-wielding rioters.

"If not for him, I might have been dead," said the 20-year-old Zhu.

Zhu suffered severe head injuries when he was beaten to the ground by a gang, and he had almost lost consciousness when a foreign man halted the beating and escorted Zhu to safety.

"I don't remember much about him except that he was tall and blond," Zhu said. "I was too feeble to say 'thank you' at the time, so I hope he could hear my thanks this way."

Zhu, an employee at a branch of China Mobile in downtown Lhasa, had gone to lunch across the street with two female colleagues -- Chen Yi, 20 and Wang Qian, 19 -- at noon on March 14.

Suddenly a large group of people descended on the street, hurling stones and brandishing knives. Many shops closed immediately, Zhu recalled.

"We ran back to our branch and the guard closed the door behind us just in time. But the people began forcing the door and breaking glass. Everyone inside was scared and trembling."

"In no time, about ten of them broke in and smashed everything around them. We rushed outside, only to find ourselves in a world like hell," Zhu said. "Hundreds of people, with rods, iron bars and knives, rampaged along the street. They hacked at people and things around them."

The three China Mobile staff became targets.

Zhu was the worst injured. "At least three of them beat me like crazy. I felt bitter pain and was too frightened to think where they were hitting me. I saw blood everywhere."

At a critical moment, the foreigner neared. "He talked to the rioters and lifted me up. They were furious but didn't move," he recalled.

Chen and Wang were able to walk away. Zhu, under the foreigner's escort, followed but later collapsed near a supermarket.

Two elderly men found him and carried him on their backs to a local hospital. The foreigner took the two women to an emergency center.

Hearing that many people have ventured their lives to help others in the riots, Zhu felt "very warm".

"I'd like very much to thank this foreigner and those kind people who were so ready to lend a hand, even in the face of danger."

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2008)