Shanghai Wen Jiabao, China's Prime Minister, used a megaphone yesterday to address passengers who are stranded at a railway station by the worst winter to hit the south of the country for 50 years.

Millions of migrant workers have been urged to abandon plans to go home to celebrate next week's lunar new year holiday because railway tracks are blocked by snow.

Mr Wen arrived at Changsha in Hunan province after being forced by airport closures to fly in via neighbouring Hubei province.

In an attempt to calm fears caused by widespread power shortages, he said: “When the electricity network is back, then the trains can run, so it will not be long before you can all go back home to celebrate the new year.”

More than 800,000 residents in Chenzhou, the main city in Hunan province, had been without power and water supplies for five days, state television said. Snow had added to energy shortages by halting the supply of coal. Twenty-five people died when a bus fell more than 40 metres (130ft) from a mountainside in Guizhou, which is among four provinces that are due to receive aid. (Reuters)

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