REGIONAL> Society
|
REGIONAL> Society
|
|
Snow, freezing cold bring disruption to north China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-22 18:35
The first major snowfall brought by the coldest temperatures so far this year disrupted the plans of thousands of travelers in north China on Thursday. Eight expressways were closed and traffic on another six was halted in the northeastern Liaoning Province after heavy snow began falling Wednesday night, said a provincial government spokesman. The Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, the provincial capital, closed for at least five hours on Thursday morning. Flights resumed at 11 a.m. after staff finished clearing the snow on the runway, but almost 1,000 passengers were still stranded at 3 p.m.. More than 30 flights were delayed and the backlog would not be cleared until the evening, said an airport spokesman. Hundreds of passengers were stranded in Dandong Airport as five flights were delayed due to the snow in the morning. The staff were still cleaning the snow at 5 p.m. Flights to the cities of Shanghai, Shenzhen, Sanya, Chengdu and Beijing were all delayed. Airports Dalian and Jinzhou, in southern Liaoning, were not affected, but airport officials were preparing for bad weather. "Many passengers asked us whether flights to Shanghai will takeoff as scheduled tomorrow. We are just not sure," said an information officer at Jinzhou Airport. |
