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BEIJING, Nov. 7 -- Beijing and several provinces in the north and east of
the country were blanketed in dense fog Saturday, causing traffic accidents and
delays, and forcing authorities to close seven expressways from Beijing to
Shenyang, Shijiazhuang and Tianjin.
For the thi
rd consecutive day, air quality in the capital was categorized
at level five, or hazardous. The visibility was only 200 meters.
The meteorological center of Beijing issued heavy fog warnings and seven
motorways were closed twice by traffic police.
Beijing, Tianjin and parts of 10 other provinces were covered by thick fog.
Some northern and eastern provinces including Hebei, Shandong, and Anhui were
particularly hard hit, with visibility between 300 and 800 meters, CCTV
reported.
The Beijing News said the air pollution was the worst in the past six
months as suspended particle count reached a dangerous 300 micrograms per cubic
meter.
According to the meteorologists, a gale of cold air blew southward to
Beijing on Saturday afternoon but failed to disperse the fog immediately.
Low visibility caused four trucks to collide on a Beijing ring road,
killing at least three people and injuring eight others. The expressway from
Beijing to Shenyang was closed Friday afternoon due to low visibility and a
nine-car pileup Saturday at Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway killed three and
injured seven.
The visibility in Beijing airport was 1,000 meters. Though flights were not
affected, the flight control department of the airport expanded the flight
departure intervals for safety reasons and restricted the number of flights.
Some flights were delayed for half an hour for the heavy fog.
(Source: Shenzhen Daily)
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