Heavy snowfall kills 15 in China,

China National News (IANS) Monday 21st January, 2008

Beijing, Jan 21 (Xinhua) Heavy snowfall over large parts of China Monday caused widespread traffic disruptions and left at least 15 people dead in weather-related accidents.

Five people died in collapse of buildings under the weight of fallen snow in central China's Hubei Province, which had its heaviest snow in 16 years, and one person died in a building collapse in the eastern province of Anhui, where it has been snowing since Jan 11.

The snow affected 7.8 million people in Hubei and caused losses of 1.43 billion yuan ($198 million), said Liu Hui, an official said Monday.

Nine people were killed in snow-related traffic accidents in the province. Hubei also saw the collapse of 11,305 houses and 481,300 hectares of crops damaged.

In the eastern Anhui Province, 2.84 million people were affected and the direct economic loss stood at 400 million yuan ($55 million).

All freeways north of the Yangtze River were closed in the province late Saturday, provincial traffic police said.

Luogang Airport in Hefei, capital of Anhui, had to be closed from late Saturday to early Sunday due to icy runways.

The transmission line that carries electricity from the Three Gorges Project to Shanghai was broken in the heavy snow.

In Shanghai, snow affected about 100 long-distance bus service routes Sunday and delayed more than 30 flights.

In western Tibet, emergency workers have rescued 131 people from snowbound highways in the Ngari Prefecture since last Thursday, but local officials fear more people may still be trapped.