Bitter snowstorm interrupts warm China spring

Beijing, March 5: The worst March snowfall to hit northeast China in 56 years killed three people and storms halted power and water supplies just days after the country registered one of its warmest ever winters, state media said today.

The three died when roofs of two market stalls collapsed under the weight of the snow yesterday in Liaoning province, Xinhua news agency said.

High winds brought down 1,100 ramshackle houses and damaged another 1,300, it said, citing a provincial spokesman.

Power stations in the coastal city of Dalian were hit by winds measuring up to 30 metres per second. Water and heating were cut for many parts of the city, the agency said.

Heating for 40 per cent of users of Dalian's largest electricity group was cut at midnight yesterday, leaving thousands of urban families shivering as the temperature dropped to minus seven degrees Celsius (19 Fahrenheit), it said.

It would take two or three days to repair the damage, it added, quoting city authorities.

Scores of flights and trains were cancelled in the area, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

Most of China's northern wheat-growing areas had also been hit by the snowfall, agriculture officials said.

A warmer-than-usual winter had increased the possibility of spring freeze damage as it accelerated growth of the crop, grain experts said.

Reuters