SAND
Beijing choked in dust storm amid heavy north-west winds
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BEIJING • The Chinese capital Beijing was shrouded in thick brown dust yesterday due to strong winds blowing in from the Gobi desert and parts of north-western China, in what the weather bureau has called the biggest sandstorm in a decade.
The China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow alert, saying the sandstorms had spread from Inner Mongolia into the provinces of Gansu, Shanxi and Hebei, which surrounds Beijing.
The tops of tower blocks in central Beijing were barely visible yesterday, and commuters could be seen wearing improvised coverings to protect their faces and hair.
Heavy dust and snow storms also hit neighbouring Mongolia over the weekend, claiming at least nine lives, the country's National Emergency Management Agency said yesterday.
Eight people were killed in the southern province of Dundgovi and a five-year-old child died in the central-western province of Arkhangai due to the storms, the agency said in a statement.
A total of 565 people have been found alive among the nearly 600 people who got lost in the storms, it said, adding that the search for those missing is still under way.
Flights have been grounded out of Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia. Around a fifth of the incoming and outbound flights at Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport have also been cancelled as of noon local time, according to aviation data provider Variflight.
Beijing's official air quality index hit a maximum of 500 yesterday morning, with floating particles known as PM10 rising beyond 8,000 micrograms per cubic metre in some districts, according to the pollution monitoring centre.
The World Health Organisation recommends average daily PM10 concentrations of no more than 50 micrograms.
The sandstorms were expected to shift south towards the Yangtze River delta and should clear by tomorrow or Thursday, the environment ministry said.
Beijing faces regular sandstorms in March and April due to its proximity to the massive Gobi desert as well as deforestation and soil erosion in northern China.
REUTERS
