BEIJING - FOUR Singaporeans, who were among 23 foreign tourists held in Tibet over fears an Italian woman with them had swine flu were released on Wednesday after tests showed she was suffering from common influenza, Chinese officials said.

The 42-year-old Italian was quarantined in a hospital in Zhangmu town, near the border with Nepal, after crossing the border into China on Saturday with 23 other members of her tour group while suffering from a fever. 'A(H1N1) flu was excluded for the Italian tourist on the morning of May 20, she was diagnosed with seasonal flu, and the 23 other tourists have been released from quarantine,' the health ministry said in a statement.

Members of the tour group were held for four days in a hotel in Zhangmu, delaying their trip, but they said they would still push on to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and their destination.

'I have never appreciated my freedom more,' Virginie De Araujo, part of the tour, told AFP.

'But we are still having to wait for an official ceremony when we would just like to continue our trip.'

Anna Husarska, another traveller, said they still did not know if the Italian tourist had been released from hospital, and the health ministry made no mention in its statement of whether she had been let out.

More than 9,800 swine flu cases have been confirmed in 40 countries and 79 people have died, according to the World Health Organisation. China has reported four confirmed cases, but none of them have been fatal. -- AFP