Foggy havoc on highways

MAJOR highways to Beijing were closed as the capital, neighboring Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality were shrouded in dense fog yesterday.

The average visibility in Beijing was less than 500 meters yesterday morning. The city's weather bureau said the fog would continue today until cold air disperses it tonight.

The city's environmental protection bureau said the fog caused "serious pollution" yesterday.

According to the Central Meteorological Bureau, 10 provinces and municipalities in north, central and east China experienced fog in the past few days.

In Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, more than 10,000 passengers were stranded at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport yesterday morning as air traffic was disrupted by dense fog.

Visibility at the airport was less than 20 meters. The airport said that 96 domestic flights had been postponed, but that things were improving as the fog lightened somewhat in the afternoon.

Today's forecast calls for more heavy fog in Chengdu.

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