Fireworks not the cause of heavy fog

Fireworks exploded during Spring Festival were not the cause of Wednesday's thick fog in Beijing that led to cancelled airline flights and highway closures, said Director of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory Guo Hu yesterday.

Guo made the remarks in response to local media reports blaming exploding fireworks for the heavy fog.

"We had actually forecast a haze in Beijing for Wednesday, although it developed into fog due to increased humidity after being affected by weather from Shandong Province and vapor from the Bohai Sea," Guo said.