text: Incredible pictures have shown the moment ferocious red sandstorms currently engulfing China devoured a city in the country's north west. China's pollution hit cities are now having to cope with a fresh nuisance after the fourth massive sandstorm struck the north-west of the country this year alone. The images show the city of Golmud, in the country's north west Qinghai Province, as it succumbs to a sweeping half-hour sandstorm which reduced the visibility to as little as 30 metres, according to The People's Daily Online. The raging sand storm sweeps in on the city of Golmud in north west China, where 200,000 people live . The sandstorm was the fourth to hit the area this year as authorities struggle to deal with the natural hazards . China's Meteorlogical Centre issued a blue alert as the sandstorms swept across the north of the country . China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) has now issued a blue alert for the latest sandstorms to hit the northern regions. The red sand swept across the northern part of the country bringing strong winds and floating sand to the regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi, in what was the fourth sandstorm to hit the area this year. The organisation advised residents to stay indoors and local authorities to brace for the clean-up operation after the sandstorms. China's four-tier colour-coded weather warning system signifies red as the most severe followed by orange, yellow and blue. Photos of the city of Dunhuang in the north-western province of Gansu show the thick orange haze coating the city's atmosphere and the lack of people on the streets gave the area an almost alien planet appearance. A local meteorologist said visibility was reduced to less than 50metres in downtown areas. Police spokesman Hui Chuang said: 'The storm forced most people to stay indoors because it was difficult to drive anyway given the low visibility and also hard to breathe without inhaling sand. 'It also forced the closure of the nearby Mogao Grottoes.' The site is a UNESCO world heritage tourist site renowned for its massive sculptures and frescoes carved in caves along a cliff. Golmud was left covered in a remarkable red haze when the sand cloud blew across the city yesterday . Traffic was brought to a standstill and residents fled for cover when the storm hit . Two local government officers attempt to sweep the sand off the city's pavements . Cars switched on their lights in order to navigate their way through the billowing sand cloud . A police cruiser makes it way through the traffic amid yesterday's ferocious sandstorm . The colour-coded weather warning system designated the sandstorm blue in an attempt to forewarn residents . Two men look out across the city where visibility was in some areas reduced to 50m .
target: Incredible pictures show a city in China devoured by a giant sandstorm .
  Golmud, in the country's north west, was yesterday blasted for half an hour .
  The entire city turned red as it was covered by the brightly-coloured sand .
  As residents fled the streets, the city took on a Mars-type appearance .