By Wen Yufang

Taiwan became the latest province to be hit by a massive sandstorm that has been sweeping across the country since Friday, local media reported.

On Saturday, the city of Kaohsiung in the south of the island was shrouded by “the worst dust storm on record,” reports said.

Environmental officials have said the air will not clear until this afternoon.

The country’s worst sandstorm of the year swept across Northwest China Friday before moving south over the weekend, affecting several cities including Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and Chengdu, Sichuan Province, en route.

People in Nanjing woke up to vast clouds of dust Saturday.

“It’s the dirtiest day I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s dirt everywhere, especially on my windows and all over my car,” The Yangtze Evening News quoted a local resident as saying.

Twelve provinces and regions, including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai, have been affected by the storm, authorities have said. In Gansu Province, visibility was reduced to 20 meters and the wind speed rose to 24 meters per second, making it one of the worst storms on record.

Gansu is believed to have been the worst hit province with losses estimated at more than 200 million yuan ($30 million), officials said. Schools and tourist attractions have also been forced to close, the Lanzhou Morning Post reported.

Across the country, as many as 20 million people and huge areas of cropland and forests have also been affected, officials said. Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public Environmental Affairs, said the sandstorm was caused by high winds carrying loose soil and sand from northern parts of China.

More rain and warmer days in Inner Mongolia will reduce the chances of further sandstorms this year, meteorological officials told the Beijing Evening News yesterday.