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Fog adds to China's travel chaos
04/02/2008 09:24 - (SA)
Guangzhou - Heavy fog descended on Monday on large parts of southern China, complicating the task of helping millions of workers stranded by winter weather that in some areas is the worst in 100 years.
The fog reduced visibility to less than 100 metres in key provinces, as meteorologists warned a new wave of snow, rain and sleet was likely to hit over the coming two days, Xinhua news agency reported.
At Guangzhou railway station in the south, where one woman was trampled to death in a stampede over the weekend, tens of thousands of people were desperately trying to get a train out before Thursday's Lunar New Year holiday.
"It's very dangerous here because there are too many people around," said Zhou Xiaoyang, a migrant worker standing outside the station with his wife and eight-month-old son.
"Even if you don't push people, they push you. But I have no choice, I have to go home to see my family," he said.
Lunar New Year holiday
The blizzards and icy temperatures that have lasted nearly three weeks have stranded millions of people at airports, train stations and bus depots in south, central and eastern China.
For many, Lunar New Year is their only chance to escape to their families after toiling in the factories, but the crippling weather has led to a massive backlog of travellers in places like Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province which has China's biggest concentration of migrant workers.
In Guangzhou, some 92 000 were still waiting late on Sunday for a much-coveted train seat, according to official data reported by Xinhua.
Thousands of police were mobilised and deployed at the train station, some lined up several layers deep at barricades, to prevent any repeat of the weekend's deadly stampede.
"For your own and others' safety, all travellers should remain calm," said the message blared out incessantly via loudspeaker. "Don't be anxious, don't push, don't run. Follow the police officers' orders to queue up quickly."
A key expressway linking Beijing to the southern city of Zhuhai near Macau was fully reopened for traffic early Monday, Xinhua reported.
The drivers of the last 6 000 vehicles, some of whom had been stuck in the snow and ice for nine days, were rescued by soldiers of the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police, according to the agency.
- AFP
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