Heavy snow in northern China kills several

• Source: Global Times
• [03:06 November 13 2009]
• Comments

By Liu Dong

Heavy snow that hit several provinces and regions in northern China since Wednesday, has killed several people, damaged houses and disrupted traffic.

A tour bus lost control and plunged into the Yellow Sea in Weihai, Shandong Province Thursday afternoon, leaving 13 people dead, the China News Service reported.

The bus, registered in Yantai, another city in the province, was traveling eastbound on a bridge over the sea with 22 people onboard when the accident occurred at about 2:15 pm.

Nine people survived, two of them were severely injured, local rescuers said.

In Henan Province, a steel-structured dining hall of Xinhu Middle School in Kaifeng collapsed Thursday morning when students were queuing for breakfast.

Seventh grader Zhang Jiaqi was killed, while three others suffered serious wounds and four were slightly injured.

Besides, the roof of the canteen at Longfeng Private Primary School in Yongnian county, Hebei Province, collapsed Wednesday evening, when students were dinning.

The downfall claimed the lives of two girls and a boy who died after being rushed to a local hospital. The 28 injured students were in stable condition after undergoing medical therapy.

The government also issued a notice Wednesday asking all the elementary and secondary schools in the county to suspend classes for two days for school building safety checks.

In Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, the blizzards caused one death and collapse of 68 vegetable greenhouses, a provincial civil affairs department official said.

A total of 86,000 people in 10 counties across the province were affected and the direct economic losses totaled 76.75 million yuan ($11.2 million), the official said.