Fog in Brazil is wreaking havoc on World Cup fans' travel plans

Fog in Brazil is wreaking havoc on World Cup fans' travel plans
(Image credit: Getty Images Sport/Getty Images)

Out of all things that could disrupt Brazil's World Cup festivities, organizers probably didn't expect the weather to be the tournament's latest source of trouble. But Mother Nature had her own plans, as a dense fog permeating over Rio de Janiero Tuesday morning wreaked havoc on the city's airport.

More than one-third of departures from Rio's Santos Dumont airport were canceled, leaving hundreds of people stranded just as they were trying to head to Brazil's second game in Fortaleza this afternoon. The heavy fog not only closed Santos Dumont for four hours, but also caused delays at airports in other host cities.

Sofiane Bekhe, an angry Algerian fan, told Reuters that the delays forced him to miss the only match he had tickets for. "I paid 6,000 euros ($8,200) to come to Brazil and I can't see the game," he said. "I've been in Brazil three days and I just want to go home.''

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.