50,000 stranded people evacuated from Chinese station

Over 50,000 holiday travellers stranded due to poor weather in and around a railway station in Guangzhou area of China's Guangdong province were evacuated on Wednesday.

Snow and sleet in central and eastern provinces of China delayed 27 trains, a railway spokesperson said on Tuesday.

An estimated 175,000 passengers were scheduled to travel by trains in Guangzhou on Tuesday. The railway station was fully packed with passengers and during the most crowded hours people waited in long queues for three hours before getting into the building.

A minority of those stranded had accepted refunds and left, Xinhua cited the Guangzhou Railway Group as saying.

Railway authorities have added eight high-speed trains on Wednesday to help people get away from Guangzhou ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday celebrations next week.

The snow that has hit central, eastern and southern China since Sunday has disrupted the annual travel rush that involves millions of people eager to get home for the Chinese lunar New Year's Eve on February 7.

The passenger flow would return to normal in two to three days, when the snow is expected to stop, authorities said.