Russia's fires hit HK travellers
At least one flight and two tour groups from Hong Kong to Russia, have been affected following heavy smog caused by a series of forest and peat bog fires.
The government warned Hongkongers who are in Moscow and neighbouring areas to avoid outdoor and energy-consuming activities.
The advice came after a Hong Kong Airlines flight scheduled to leave for the Russian capital yesterday morning was forced to delay the trip for at least a day, because one of the airline's planes was stranded in Russia due to the low visibility.
A total of 192 passengers were affected, including 53 from three tour groups to Russia who are forced to cancel their trip, a spokeswoman for the airline said.
One woman who had just finished a nine-day tour to Russia and returned to Hong Kong yesterday, said both outdoor areas and those indoors in Moscow had been affected by the smoke. Her tour guide handed out face masks to her and other travellers. 'We mainly stayed in indoor areas, but we could even smell the smoke despite there being air-conditioning,' she said, adding that she could see haze in the hotel lobby and her room. 'We planned to go and see the night view of Red Square yesterday [Saturday] night, but we didn't go eventually because a member of our group had mild asthma.'
But Joseph Tung Yao-chung, Travel Industry Council's executive director, said there were about six tour groups in Russia now and their itineraries were not affected.
