Heavy fog fades, traffic restored in part

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-03 01:56

BEIJING: Heavy fog faded in most Chinese provinces after a cold front from Siberia moving south cleared up the sky on Wednesday. As a result, road, river and air traffic was finally restored after days of disruption in many parts of China.

Traffic on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal resumed at noon after 11 hours of closure, said an official from Yangzhou City of east China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday.

Nearly 100 vessels stranded in Yangzhou have entered the Yangtze River.

But sea areas off Shanghai were still shrouded by heavy fog. In the first three quarters of this year, Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration reported 32 accidents in its administrative area, in which 13 vessels were wrecked and 20 people went missing. Direct economic loss was estimated at 39 million yuan (about $5.7 million).

The administration reminded passing vessels to be ready for emergencies because of the bad weather.

Visibility in east China's Shandong Province rose to more than 1,000 meters. Delayed flights and closed highways had been resumed, said the provincial meteorological bureau.

However, the heavy fog staggered in east China's Anhui Province, north China's Shanxi Province and northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Wednesday.

Visibility was 200 to 50 meters in most parts of Anhui, where police had to reinforce traffic control on highways.

Two of the three flights canceled on Tuesday in Hefei City took off Wednesday, though some other flights were delayed.

Visibility in Shanxi was 100 to 20 meters on Wednesday. Flights at the Airport of Yuncheng in Shanxi were postponed.