Heavy fog strands 16,000 air passengers in China: state media
BEIJING - MORE than 16,000 passengers were stranded in major airports in western China on Sunday as thick fog blanketed the area, state media reported.
The Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu City, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, was closed for more than five hours on Sunday, delaying hundreds of flights and stranding 10,000, the Xinhua news agency reported.
'The visibility was less than 10 metres (yards), far below the minimum 500 metres required for take-off,' airport spokesman Lu Junming told Xinhua.
'A total of 485 flights were scheduled Sunday and most would be delayed for at least four hours.'
Heavy fog also enveloped Urumqi International Airport, the largest airport in northwest China's Xinjiang region, stranding 6,000 passengers overnight from Saturday to Sunday, Xinhua said. -- AFP
