Society
Passengers stranded in Xinjiang as flights cancelled
By Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-20 06:54
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URUMQI: Heavy snow brought by the latest cold front to hit the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region late Sunday has caused more chaos around the region.
Urumqi, capital of the region, experienced its heaviest snow this winter on Monday, which caused the delay or cancellation of 122 flights from and into the city, an airport official said late Monday.
The Urumqi International Airport was closed from 2:20 pm to 6:30 pm on Monday due to the snow, leaving more than 4,000 passengers stranded.
"My flight was due to leave at about 1 pm to Hotan but it was delayed to 7:30 pm on Monday. I waited at the airport for eight hours," said Cheng Yan, who is in her 30s. "We were constantly updated about the situation at the airport by airline staff."
"There were a lot of people waiting at the terminal but I didn't feel too crowded and we were offered food and water," she said. "Of course, people complained about the delay but I think people understand that the delay was beyond human control."
Heavy snow continued to affect the airport yesterday, delaying a number of flights. But the situation was much better than the previous day as no passengers were stranded.
Tacheng, Altay and Yining airports in northern Xinjiang were also temporarily closed due to the heavy snow on Monday.
A total of 11 avalanches have occurred on the Guozigou section of the national highway in Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture. After an avalanche on Sunday night, the tent that three highway maintenance workers took shelter in was buried under three meters of snow. All three workers were found after eight hours of rescue, but only two survived. The other died at the scene.
The latest casualty brought the number of people killed by the extreme weather in the region to five, according to the latest figure released by the regional civil affairs department yesterday.
More than 2,000 drivers and passengers in more than 200 vehicles had been stranded on the highway in the wake of the avalanches. Traffic began to resume after more than 100 rescuers were sent to the scene clearing snow. The highway remained under traffic control yesterday for fear of more avalanches.
In northern Xinjiang, the amount of precipitation in January in 13 places reached record highs and six places have seen the deepest snow in their history.
In Xinjiang, the number of people affected by the disaster climbed to 1.6 million from one million within two days and more than 90,000 people have been evacuated, according to the latest figure.
The direct economic loss was estimated at 345.3 million yuan ($51 million). More than 80 million yuan has been put into disaster relief work by the regional government.
