'Next to No Visibility': Thick Smoke Hangs Over Canberra Airport

Thick smog at Canberra airport led to the death of an elderly woman on January 2, who was reported to have gone into respiratory distress after exiting a plane onto tarmac where there was dense smoke from bushfires.

Local health authorities said smoke levels in Canberra peaked at more than 20 times hazardous levels on Wednesday, with smoke from the bushfires expected to linger in the coming days.

The thick smoke has also led to Australian Post services being indefinitely suspended and forced some hospitals to cancel medical procedures.

Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist based at the University of Reading, said air quality in Canberra was now the worst in the world.

In this video, smog at Canberra airport can be seen from inside a plane taking off on the runway. Credit: Katharine Kilroy via Storyful