China locked down two major cities in a province at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak on Thursday, banning planes and trains from leaving in an unprecedented move aimed at containing the disease which has already spread to other countries.
The respiratory virus has claimed 17 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, infected hundreds of other people nationwide and been detected as far away as the United States.
Residents in Wuhan, a major port city in central Hubei province with a population of 11 million people, were told Thursday not to leave “without a special reason”, and the order was backed by a transport shutdown.
Trains and planes out of Wuhan were indefinitely suspended, tollways on roads out the city were closed, leading to fear and panic for those who were trapped.
Hours later, authorities in neighbouring Huanggang announced that public transport and train services would be suspended at midnight, while people were told to not leave the city of 7.5 million.
All of Huanggang’s cinemas, internet cafes, and the central market will close.
A third city, 1.1 million-population Ezhou, announced the train station had been temporarily closed earlier in the day.