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Deaths in Japan and Taiwan as snow and ice hit east Asia Deaths in Japan and Taiwan as snow and ice hit east Asia
(about 4 hours later)
Snow, sleet and icy winds across east Asia have caused deaths, flight cancellations and chaos as the region struggles with record-low temperatures. Snow, sleet and icy winds across east Asia have caused deaths, flight cancellations and chaos as the region struggles with record-low temperatures due to an arctic cold snap that brought snow to several tropical areas for the first time in many people’s lifetimes.
Weather-related deaths were reported in Japan and Taiwan at the weekend, with hundreds of flights cancelled across the region, tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded in South Korea, and freezing conditions in sub-tropical Hong Kong causing mayhem on its tallest peak. In Taiwan, the capital Taipei recorded a low of 4C, the coldest in 44 years. Local media said 90 people had died due to the cold weather, mainly from hypothermia and cardiac arrest. Five more died in Japan.
Taipei registered a low of 4C over the weekend, the coldest in 44 years, with local media reporting 90 deaths due to the cold weather, and rare snowfall drawing enthusiastic crowds to Yangmingshan national park. Hundreds of flights were cancelled across the region, tens of thousands of holidaymakers were stranded in South Korea, and freezing conditions in sub-tropical Hong Kong caused mayhem on its tallest peak.
In Japan, five people died and more than 100 were injured on Sunday, with record-breaking heavy snowfall and low temperatures in the country’s western and central regions and rare snow in subtropical areas, officials and local media said. In northern Vietnam, snow blanketed mountain areas as the wave of cold air arrived on Sunday to Lao Cai province. In the capital of Hanoi, it dropped to a milder 6C, although authorities said that was the coldest the city has been for two decades.
Snow fell on the small island of Amami for the first time since 1901, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Just south of the Tropic of Cancer, the Chinese city of Guangzhou saw sleet for the first time in 60 years, the local meteorological station said. Residents posted photos online of small snowmen they had made, quickly constructed from a thin layer of icy flakes that fell on cars and roads.
In China, 24 weather stations around the country recorded all-time low temperatures between Friday and Sunday. At Eergu’Na in inner Mongolia, the temperature on Saturday hit a record low of -46.8C. And in the centre of Guangzhou, a city in southern China, sleet fell for the first time in 60 years, the provincial meteorological station said on Sunday. Guangzhou driver Wang Jun told the South China Morning Post he had never seen sleet throughout his 20 years working in the city.
In Hong Kong, primary schools and kindergartens were closed on Monday after temperatures fell to a 60-year low. A 100km ultra-marathon race was abandoned as competitors crossing the city’s tallest peak, Tai Mo Shan, slipped on icy slopes buffeted by freezing winds. A race official described the scene as one of “carnage”, with dozens of people suffering hypothermia; firefighters called in to rescue them were filmed slipping and sliding on the icy roads. “I woke up at 6am to work and saw small pieces of ice hit my windscreen. It stopped for a while, but happened again half an hour later. And then there was sleet at about 11am,” he said.
Almost 90,000 people were stranded on the South Korean resort island of Jeju on Monday after the biggest snowfall in three decades shut the airport for the third day running. “It’s the first time I’ve see that. It’s very beautiful.”
In Vietnam, temperatures in Hanoi dropped to 6C at night over the weekend, which state-run media said was the coldest in 20 years. The cold was caused by a polar vortex, a large cyclone that pushed south from Siberia and unusual meteorological occurrence for East Asia.
In Bangkok, the Thai capital that rarely sees temperatures below 20-25C, temperatures fell to about 16C late on Sunday. In Hong Kong, primary schools and kindergartens were closed on Monday after temperatures fell to 3C, a 60-year low. A 100km ultra-marathon race was abandoned as competitors crossing the city’s tallest peak, Tai Mo Shan, slipped on icy slopes buffeted by freezing winds. A race official described the scene as one of “carnage”, with dozens of people suffering hypothermia; firefighters called in to rescue them were filmed slipping and sliding on the icy roads.
In Bangkok, labelled the planet’s hottest city by the World Meteorological Organisation for its mean air temperature of 28C, the mercury dropped to 16C on Monday. Scarves and puffer jackets, normally bought only as winter holiday items by Bangkokians, appeared downtown as locals dealt with the unusually cool weather.
During peak tourism season, the sea in many areas was dark and rough as grey cloud hung overhead.
Hundreds of flight cancellations left tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded in South Korea, after the biggest snowfall in three decades shut the airport on the resort island on Jeju.
In China, 24 weather stations recorded all-time low temperatures. Further north, in Inner Mongolia, the temperature dropped to a record low of -46.8C and in China’s eastern city of Qingdao, fishing boats stuck fast in the frozen waters.
The weather ruined many people’s travel plans for the Chinese Lunar New Year season, when families normally travel to their hometowns.