AT least two people died and 19 were injured in traffic accidents in the past two days amid heavy fog that continues to cloak provinces in eastern, northern and central China. The accidents happened on highways in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province and East China's Anhui Province.

The fog forced Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, and Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui Province, to cancel all flights yesterday morning, leaving over 10,000 air travelers stranded as of press time.

The dense fog has disrupted flights at the Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province. Over 4,000 travelers were still waiting at the airport as of press time.

At Jinan airport in East China's Shandong Province, more than 100 flights were delayed, with the visibility dropping to less than 10 meters at 3 p.m. yesterday. Over 5,000 people were affected. Dozens of flights have been delayed in Central China's Henan Province and North China's Hebei Province as well. Stretches of highway were shut down, including sections of the highway from Beijing to Shanghai, which were closed due to heavy fog in the central and southern parts of Hebei Province. Navigation has been banned on parts of the Yangtze River as visibility dropped to less than 50 meters yesterday.

Meteorological authorities had advised people to reduce outdoor activity. In some provinces, people are advised to wear masks as the heavy smog contains pollutants like carbon monoxide.

The fog has been caused by lack of air movement in Central and East China and increase of pollutants in the air, according to the central meteorological authority. As cold air from Siberia continues to move south, the fog will be dissipated and the temperature will drop by six to 10 degrees Celsius.

Heavy fog has caused more than 33 accidents from January to Dec. 18 this year, a 48 percent increase from last year, according to central meteorological authority. The fog is expected to lift Dec. 28, according to meteorological authorities.

Editor: Wing