Some Wuhan residents 'escape' before lockdown

'Escape from Wuhan' has become a popular hashtag on Weibo, a microblogging website on the mainland.

Residents scrambled to leave the epicentre of a deadly Sars-like virus outbreak before a virtual lockdown was imposed on the city on Thursday.



Authorities halted flights and trains out of Wuhan from 10am local time. But on social media, people who said they are from Wuhan posted messages saying they left the city before the lockdown was implemented.



“Escape from Wuhan” has become a popular hashtag on Weibo, a microblogging website on the mainland.



“I escaped in the small hours. There were so many cars on the highway,” wrote one netizen who claimed she had driven to Shanghai.



Another netizen said she had left with a friend. She said both of them had a fever.



“We’ve escaped the epidemic zone after taking some fever reducers. I’ll visit the doctor in Shanghai if my fever doesn’t go away a week later,” she wrote.



She also said that they plan to visit Disneyland.



A mother said she had flown with her children to Hainan.



“The outbreak is too serious. We dare not go out in Wuhan at all. We’re now in Sanya for shelter,” she wrote.