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Wind wreaks havoc in China's Xinjiang, 2 dead

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-17 16:08

URUMQI  -- Winds of an average speed of 50 km per hour caused two deaths, six injuries and disrupted traffic in parts of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, police and weather forecasters said Friday.

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A 60-year-old man in Akzu Prefecture, on the China-Kyrgyzstan border, died after he was hit by a falling tree near his home Thursday afternoon, the local public security bureau said.

A similar tragedy killed a farmer in Akzu's Wensu County Thursday, a bureau spokesman said.

The wind, which swept most parts of Xinjiang from midday Thursday, reduced visibility to below 50 meters in Aksu, the regional weather center said Friday. "In some areas, the wind was 80 km per hour and visibility was down to two or three meters," it said.

Several billboards in Akzu's city proper toppled in the wind, injuring three women and an eight-year-old girl, according to the prefecture's public security bureau.

The local fire brigade received 57 fire alarms up to midnight. No casualties were reported.

Akzu Airport was closed Thursday and reopened Friday, airport authorities confirmed.

The severe weather disrupted road traffic in Akzu and Turpan prefectures.

Police in Turpan worked overnight to rescue 14 people, trapped in six vehicles stopped on a country road in Turpan by strong winds Thursday afternoon.

Rescue work ended at 5 am Friday and all 14 were unhurt, said police officer Yuan Fenqiang with Turpan Public Security Bureau.

The wind had dropped to about 5 km per hour from Friday morning on, the weather bureau said.

Wind and sand hit Xinjiang every spring. In one of the latest disasters, a train derailed in strong winds in February 2007, causing three deaths and dozens of injuries.