A severe dust storm over the eastern part of Saudi Arabia resulted in a thick dust haze over Bahrain on Monday and is likely to continue till Friday, according to the Civil Aviation Meteorology Directorate.

The haze, which began early on Monday morning, lasted for a greater part of the day and is expected to continue until Friday, said an official.

'The dust has already started to settle down, but we will have hazy weather with rising sand in places for the next four days,' he said.

Though the haze reduced visibility at Bahrain International Airport to less than 1,000 metres, no flights were affected, said a Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) official.

'We have modern navigation systems in place at the airport after the recent renovation of the runway which are capable of taking care of such exigencies,' he said.

Accident and Emergency Department doctors at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) reported a minor increase in the number of cases of people suffering from symptoms of breathlessness and asthma, adding that they were well within manageable limits.

'It being a working day and with health centres open, many of the patients might have gone there,' said a doctor.-TradeArabia News Service