Snowstorm Blankets North China

November 12, 2009 5:58 a.m. EST

Beijing, China (AHN) - Record snowfall rendered highways impassable and disrupted flights in north China on Wednesday. The 19-inch thick snow that fell in Hebei province's capital of Shijiazhuang was the heaviest ever recorded since 1955.

Authorities cancelled classes on Wednesday. Twenty-four flights to the city were cancelled and 21 flights were delayed. Only three planes landed in the Shijiazhuang airport.

Other parts of north China, including Beijing and Tianjin, Shanxi Province and Ningxia and Xinjiang autonomous regions, were also blanketed by snow Tuesday. About 3,500 cars were stuck along a 50-mile stretch of a highway from Xianxian to Jingle counties and in Taiyuan, 116 flights were canceled stranding 12,000 passengers until Wednesday morning.

A total 155 reported road accidents caused by snow killed two people and injured 37 in Ningxia, according to police.