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Fog, rain leaves 1 dead, 2 missing

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-09 22:36

BEIJING: Fogs and rainstorms left one person dead and two missing Monday in east China and kept tens of thousands of passengers stranded in airports in several provinces.

A traffic policeman guides traffic in heavy fog in Huai'an, East China's Jiangsu province, yesterday. [He Jinghua/China Daily]

One died on Monday after a 2-story work shed collapsed amid rainstorm and buried six workers in Hangzhou City, capital of eastern Zhejiang Province, said a spokesman with the local government.

Related readings:  Fog shrouds Chinese provinces, freezing rain hits Beijing  Heavy fog blankets east China  Heavy fog shrouds Beijing and neighboring regions  Thick fog strands 10,000 flight passengers in southwest China

The other five, one of whom in critical conditions, are now under medical treatment.

Two seamen were missing after a loaded sand freighter collided with a freighter carrying lubricant in the waters off Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, in a thick fog at 4:30 am, said a spokesman with the Zhoushan Bureau of Maritime Affairs.

The two were from the sand freighter that sank after the collision, the spokesman said.

Nearly 10,000 passengers were stranded at Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou City, capital of Zhejiang Province, as fog and an ensuing thunderstorm forced planes to land at nearby airports, according to a statement of the airport.

In the southwest Chengdu City, 12,000 passengers were stranded at the local airport as fog had closed the airport for eight hours, delayed 123 flights and caused the cancellation of six others. The airport reopened at 11 am.

Fog has also delayed 22 flights at the airport in Xi'an, capital of the northwest Shaanxi Province.

In Shandong Province, visibility in Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai, Dezhou and Weifang cities dropped to well below 50 meters due to heavy fog, forcing the closure of a dozen of highways.

Meanwhile, ice droplets about 2 to 5 mm in diameter were reported falling across Beijing.

The capital's meteorological station said the icy rain would be followed by snow Monday evening, and the sleet would continue to Thursday.

Zhang Mingying, senior engineer with the station, said sleet in Beijing was rare in November, and the average temperature this week was about six degrees Celsius below average for the time of year.

December was the usual month for icy weather, he said.

Beijing residents are not familiar with frozen rain. A man surnamed Wei said he thought it was hail.

"The ice battered my car window as I was driving along Chang'an Avenue. I was surprised," he said.

The Beijing Environment and Sanitation Engineering Group Co Ltd had made preparations for the pending snowfall.

Zhang Zhiqiang, an official in charge of road cleaning in the company, said the company had prepared snow-thawing agents and snow-clearing vehicles for snow.

Neighboring Henan and Hebei provinces also saw rain and sleet on Monday.

The Hebei provincial meteorological station said the temperature this week would drop 8 to 10 degrees to below freezing from the average of 5 degrees Celsius last week, which was not a good news for local disease control authorities.

The lingering haze last week had already caused a rise in the number of patients of respiratory diseases, and A(H1N1) flu virus could spread faster with the expected drastic temperature drops, said Zhou Jikun, deputy director of the Hebei Provincial Center of Disease Control.

Eighty percent of more than 200 flu virus samples taken from hospitals in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang last week tested positive for A(H1N1), he added.