NE China blizzard disrupts traffic

An airport and several highways were closed after heavy snow hit northeast China's Liaoning Province on Thursday morning.

The Taoxian International Airport in the provincial capital of Shenyang closed at 12:40 p.m. and was expected to remain closed until 9 p.m., according to the provincial transport department.

Portions of six highways were also closed, according to the department.

The snowfall is forecast to last for three days and lower temperatures by 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, according to the Shenyang municipal meteorological observatory.

The blizzard is also hitting neighboring Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to the National Meteorological Center.

In Jilin, classes were suspended on Thursday in more than 90 percent of the province's primary and high schools because of the snow. The airport in the provincial capital of Changchun was also closed around 7 p.m.

The number of road accidents related to slippery conditions had reached 30 in Jilin as of 6 p.m., according to traffic police. No casualties have been reported so far.

The Jilin provincial weather station issued wind and cold front alerts at 4 p.m., forecasting a temperature drop of 6 to 8 degrees Celsius in the next 12 hours.

In Heilongjiang, all expressways in the province were closed as of 7:30 p.m. More than 2,000 passengers were stranded at the Taiping Airport in the provincial capital of Harbin, as more than 20 flights were affected by the weather.