February 19, 2008	Tuesday	Safar 11, 1429

BEIJING: Icy temperatures have swept through south China, stranding 180,000 people and leading to widespread power cuts, just as the area was recovering from the worst weather in 50 years, the government said on Monday.

The latest cold snap has taken a severe toll in mountainous but usually temperate Yunnan province, struck by heavy snowfalls since Thursday, a government official from the provincial disaster release office said.

In Yunnan, 12 people have died, Xinhua news agency reported, and four remained missing as of Saturday.

In the province’s second largest city, Qujing, 80 per cent of the two million residents did not have electricity due to the most recent cold snap and the severe weather that first hit China in early January, the China Daily said.

The snowfalls over the past few days have cut off 14,000 kilometres of roads in Yunnan, stranding large numbers of people, the newspaper said, citing provincial transport authorities.

In Qujing, six highways have been closed while 42 bus routes have been cancelled, according to the China Daily.

“As the bad weather continues, the rescue work is becoming much harder,” said the official from the provincial disaster release office, referring to helping stranded passengers, clearing roads and getting power back up.—AFP