Dust strands 1,300 passengers in Lhasa

LHASA - Dusty weather continued on Friday in the capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, disrupting flights and stranding more than 1,300 passengers.

Four domestic and international flights were canceled due to poor visibility and 18 other flights were delayed in Lhasa's Gonggar Airport, civil aviation authorities said.

The airport has an emergency response plan in place to ensure the food and water for stranded passengers.

On Thursday, Lhasa and neighboring areas were enveloped in dust, leading to cancellation of two flights from Gonggar.

Sometimes known as "Sun City", Lhasa normally basks under blue skies with rarely a foggy day. The dusty weather is forecast to end on Saturday afternoon.

A sharp drop in temperature, lower pressure and accumulated particulates are main causes of the murky weather, a local meteorologist said.