On July 30, nearly 10,000 passengers have been stranded at the Beijing Capital International Airport as the heaviest rainstorm to hit Beijing this summer resulted in the cancellation of nearly all departing flights in the evening, Xinhua News Agency reported on July 31.

Airport authorities had to adjust the takeoff schedules to ensure layover flights from July 30 take off first.

But this brought delays for even more flights.

The rain began to hit most parts of the city at 5.30pm on July 30, but nearly all flights were canceled after 3.40pm as thunder and lightning warnings from the central and local meteorological bureaus were relayed to airport authorities and airline companies.

Clerks at the airport's service desk confirmed at least 40 flights were canceled in the evening on July 30.

"It rained in many other northern cities too. Many flights to Beijing were also canceled," said a clerk.

The scene at the terminal building became disorderly by 10pm, with children and the elderly people forced to sleep on the floor and furious passengers taking airline and airport officials to task for failing to provide food and lodging.

An Air China spokesman said passengers had to arrange for their own food and lodging when flights were laid over by bad weather.

However, a passenger surnamed Su said: "The flights were canceled at 3.40pm but the airline company never explained why. The airport and airline companies should have been more prepared for the bad weather and provided better service."

A group of 120 teenage students trying to get home to Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province had to huddle together in the terminal for the night.

Their teacher said one of them caught a cold and had come down with a fever.

The situation was exacerbated when some passengers found all nearby hotels were fully booked.

The impact of the delays was also felt elsewhere, with nearly 1,000 passengers stranded for 20 hours at Hangzhou airport in Zhejiang province after flights to the capital were canceled.