The country was blanketed by heavy snow and pummeled by severe weather yesterday during the third consecutive day of harsh weather.

The whiteout left several people dead and caused hundreds of injuries. It also froze traffic in many cities and grounded hundreds of flights.

Tens of thousands of people and vehicles were stuck along 21 expressways in seven provinces. Power supplies were lost in some parts of the country, the China Highway Information Service said on its website yesterday.

The national meteorological watchdog issued an orange alert — the second-highest level — for snowstorms on Wednesday.

Hebei provincial meteorological bureau issued its top alert three times and officials in Shanxi province declared an emergency the same day. Some places in these two provinces experienced the most severe snowfall in history.

The National Disaster Reduction Committee and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly declared a third-level emergency plan early yesterday aimed at fighting the snowstorm in the north of the country.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited Shijiazhuang, the capital city of worst-hit Hebei province, yesterday afternoon. He comforted passengers stranded at railway stations and drivers trapped on the highways.

The heavy snow was the reason for at least six deaths and caused upheaval to around 630,000 people in Hebei. The direct economic loss there has reached 400 million yuan ($59 million), according to the provincial civil affairs department.

Of the six fatalities in Hebei, three children died and 28 were injured when a primary school canteen collapsed under the weight of the snow on Wednesday.

The accident happened at Longfeng private primary school, Mingguan town, Yongnian county, at about 6 pm, a county government spokesman said.