China/South Korea

Freezing temperatures and record snowfalls cause chaos

Article published on the 2010-01-05 Latest update 2010-01-05 13:11 TU

Policemen and firemen clear away snow that left a train stranded in Shangdu, Inner Mongolia.
(Photo: Reuters)

China's capital is in the grips of the coldest temperatures in 20 years, while South Korea mobilizes 19,000 soldiers to clear snow across the country. The freezing spell is forecast to continue over the next few days.

Beijing was hit by the heaviest snowfall in 60 years over the weekend. 

About 1,200 flights were cancelled or delayed on Sunday at Beijing's international airport. The situation is just returning to normal as workers de-ice planes that werestuck on the weekend.

In Beijing and the surrounding areas, around 30 highways were closed or only partially open. With traffic paralysed, thousands of people blocked by the snow were forced to sleep overnight in their vehicles.

More than 3,500 schools in Beijing and Tianjin were forced to close on Monday.

The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau reported that over 5,000 volunteers were mobilised to keep order at bus stops.

The freezing weather is set to continue until Thursday, according to the weather bureau. Temperatures are forecast to fall as low as -32 degrees celsius for Beijing, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia. In northern Heilongjian province, the temperature had already dropped to -36 celsius.

Meanwhile, Seoul, South Korea, was blanketed with 28 centimetres of snow on Monday, the most precipitation registered in a single day since records have been kept. The capital city deployed 3,500 civil servants and 1,200 vehicles for snow removal.