URUMQI -- More than 5,000 passengers were stranded Monday at the Urumqi airport in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region as a heavy snowstorm battered the region, the airport said.

Blizzards and freezing fog hit the region beginning early Monday, forcing the runway to close in the regional capital of Urumqi, said a manager with the airport's operation center.

As of 10 am, 42 flights had been delayed and eight others canceled, said the manager.

Another four flights diverted to Kashgar airport, he said.