Heavy snow shuts down Prague, Basel airports

Heavy snowfall across Europe grounded passenger planes and forced the closure of several airports, including Prague's international airport, officials said.

Photo: Heavy snow shuts down Prague, Basel airports

About 100 flights were canceled at Prague international airport as snow continued to fall Wednesday in the Czech capital, airport spokeswoman Eva Krejci said.

In Germany, snow prevented flights from taking off from Stuttgart airport Tuesday night, stranding some 1,000 passengers overnight, airport authorities said. About 70 flights were canceled by Wednesday morning, officials said.

At Munich airport, 25 departures and arrivals were canceled by Wednesday morning, and 35 other flights were delayed, airport spokeswoman Erica Gingerich said. About 1,000 passengers were stranded, she said.

The snowfall also was blamed for at least three fatal accidents in southern Germany, reports AP.

A bus driver was killed when his vehicle collided with a truck on a snowy road. No passengers were on board. Elsewhere, a woman died after her car slid off a road into a stream, and a truck driver was killed when his vehicle swerved into a highway guard rail. The snowy conditions caused long highway tailbacks.

In Switzerland, more than 30 flights to and from Basel's EuroAirport were canceled Wednesday, airport spokeswoman Vivienne Gaskell said. EuroAirport also serves the neighboring French city of Mulhouse and Freiburg in Germany.