ALL outdoor activities were banned yesterday at all middle and primary schools, kindergartens and middle vocational schools in Beijing, Beijing Municipal Education Commission said via Sina Weibo yesterday.

The move was taken after at least four people died in strong winds a day earlier.

Such activities include the flag-raising ceremony, morning exercises and outdoor social practices.

At least four people were killed, more than 50 flights were diverted to other airports and two trains arrived late in Beijing on Sunday when strong gales flattened walls, knocked down trees and damaged farms.

The capital issued a blue alert for strong winds Sunday, with five suburban districts of Tongzhou, Yanqing, Changping, Huairou and Shunyi upgrading it to yellow alert later. These areas were hit with strong winds as high as 8-9 grades, with gales reaching 10 grade in some places. According to the forecast, the wind could still be as high as 7-8 grades yesterday.

The gale toppled a wall near Dongzhimen Bridge in downtown Beijing, hitting three pedestrians, two males and one female. Two of them died at the scene and one at the hospital, Dongcheng District said via Sina Weibo.

Food delivery service Meituan said one of its deliverymen was hit and killed by a falling tree when delivering food.

The wind speeds reached 10-15 meters per second at the Capital International Airport starting from 10 a.m. Sunday, with gales as fast as 20-25 meters per second, the airport said. Due to the strong wind, the operational ability of the airport dropped and remained low until 7 p.m. Sunday.

By 5 p.m., out of 1,561 flights scheduled for that day, 856 had flown as scheduled, 51 were canceled and 51 diverted to other airports.

Trains K1190 and Y513 arrived in Beijing late because Beijing-Chengde railway was hit by fallen trees in Shunyi District. (China Daily)