2,000 vehicles caught in China traffic jam

BEIJING - Nearly 2,000 vehicles were stuck in a massive traffic jam on a highway in China’s Gansu province due to an ongoing road project and inclement weather, authorities said.

The huge traffic snarl was on a main highway in northwest China’s Gansu province, the China Daily reported Friday.

A team of 100 police officers has been sent to the congested Xingxing Gorge section of State Highway 312, said a spokesman with the provincial public security bureau in capital Lanzhou.

State Highway 312 runs 4,967 km from Shanghai to Xinjiang.

The spokesman said police would try to divert some of the vehicles to other routes, and arrange food, water and lodging for the stranded drivers and passengers.

The spokesman said that the congested section of the highway was narrow, as a new freeway was being constructed.

The severe weather conditions, with high winds and a low temperature of minus 24 degrees Celsius, also had worsened road conditions due to ice.

Several stranded vehicles had run out of fuel, as the congestion, a chronic problem that began to worsen Wednesday, had made it impossible for tanker trucks to enter.