Strong gales suspend train service in Xinjiang

Strong gales with gusts of 120 km per hour forced at least 12 trains to stop in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Wednesday on safety grounds, local authorities said. The suspended trains include passenger and cargo trains traveling within Xinjiang as well as on interprovincial lines to Shaanxi, Gansu, Jiangsu, and Henan provinces and Chongqing Municipality, the Urumqi railway bureau said in a press release. It said railway authorities are working to ensure adequate food and drinking water supplies on board the stranded trains. The bureau said the trains were forced to stop early Wednesday morning between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., when gales reaching 120 km per hour swept the south of Xinjiang. It is not immediately known when train service will resume. Xinjiang is prone to strong gales which, in extreme cases, can cause trains to derail.