Snowstorm strands 5,000 passengers at Xinjiang airport

Over 5,000 passengers were today stranded at the Urumqi airport in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as a heavy snowstorm forced cancellation of over 40 flights, officials said.

Blizzards and freezing fog hit the region beginning early on Monday, forcing the runway to close in the regional capital of Urumqi, said a manager with the airport's operation center.

As of 10 am, 42 flights had been delayed and eight others canceled, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

Another four flights diverted to Kashgar airport in Xinjiang, he said.