China copes with record cold front

As the temperatures in many parts of China drop to record lows, let's take a look at how the freezing weather is affecting people's lives.

Traffic is hardly moving.

It's been the same nearly every day since the cold front swept this winter.

But on an expressway in Shaanxi province, the freezing weather nearly became deadly.

An oil truck filled with 23 tons of gasoline began to leak due to the extreme cold.

A single spark could have set off a major fire.

Driver in Shaanxi said, "I suddenly found that there was the smell of gasoline. I stopped to check, and I saw the truck leaking and the oil running out through the gap. I called the police for help, and I was so scared. "

Emergency crews came with cooling and firefighting equipment, and also helped transfer the gas to another tanker.

Traffic was pushed back 200 meters to keep a safe distance from the leaky truck, leaving the road congested for 6 hours. Ten tons of gasoline was lost.

But, most importantly, nobody was hurt in the incident.

Over in Mohe county, in the northern tip of China, temperatures fell to as low as minus-43 degrees Celsius.

And visibility was less than 10 meters.

Taxi Driver in Heilongjiang said, "I've never seen such thick fog, and I've been a taxi driver for 11 years. I can't see anything five or six meters away. I can't even see the car just ahead of me without turning on the lights."

The whole country has been hit by strong cold fronts in the last few days. But temperatures in northern China are expected to rise slightly, while rain is forecast for the south.