More Chinese cities issue red alerts for heavy smog

BEIJING, Dec 24: More Chinese cities are issuing their first red alerts for pollution in response to forecasts of heavy smog after the capital, Beijing, issued two this month following criticism for not releasing them earlier.

Shandong province in eastern China issued alerts in four cities after warning that the density of particulate matter in the air would exceed high levels for more than 24 hours. The Shandong environmental protection bureau says the alerts started Thursday morning.


Meteorological authorities in Hebei, regarded as China's most polluted province, issued the province's first red alert for smog on Tuesday.

Cities in Hebei took response measures. According to Hebei's environmental protection bureau, Xingtai and Handan instigated traffic control measures to take half the vehicles off the road on a given day.

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