Extreme Weather Hits Xinjiang Kills 7 People, Hit by Snowfall and Strong Winds

Illustration of cold weather in China (Photo by Sean Lee on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A cold wave in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region has reportedly killed seven people, according to a Chinese news website that cited local authorities.

The seven dead were workers at a construction project site in Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang. The area was hit by extreme weather accompanied by strong winds, snowfall, and freezing temperatures.

Local authorities previously said eight workers were reported missing when a cold wave hit on Monday, November 28 yesterday. All of them were found, but seven of them were killed.

The extreme weather in the Altay prairie region has made roads impassable, cattle freezing and residents trapped as temperatures plunged to minus 49.6 degrees Celsius, according to the Waijiao news website as quoted by Antara, Wednesday 30 November.

The Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory issued a cold wave warning on Friday, November 25, which was upgraded to high alert a day later.

The first warning since 2008 was issued after the weather worsened in the southwestern region of China last week.

Apart from Xinjiang, several areas in the northwest, north, and northeast of mainland China were also hit by a cold wave so the air temperature dropped drastically.

In Changchun (Jilin Province), Shenyang (Liaoning Province), and Hohhot (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) temperatures reach below 10 degrees Celsius.

In Beijing City and Shanxi Province, the temperature in the last three days has reached minus 5 and minus 8 degrees Celsius, respectively. It was snowing in Zhengzhou and Luoyang in Henan Province.

Local governments in these areas have made various preparations to anticipate another cold wave.