AFP - Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 aircraft which aborted its take-off from Shanghai Pudong airport after smoke was detected while the plane was taxiing for take-off, in Shanghai, China, on Dec. 9, 2011.

It seems that some people just cannot bear to part with their personal belongings, despite the safety instructions that airlines issue at the outset of every flight. 

The Associated Press reports from SHANGHAI:

City and airline officials say passengers were evacuated from a Cathay Pacific Airways plane set to fly from Shanghai to Hong Kong, after smoke was seen in the jet's cabin while it was taxiing for takeoff.

The city government said in a statement that a few passengers were slightly injured during the evacuation Friday at Pudong International Airport, but there were no serious injuries and other flights were not affected.

Cathay Pacific said 351 passengers and 19 crew were on board the Boeing 747-400 at the time of the incident. It said the source of the smoke was under investigation.

AFP - Getty Images

AFP - Getty Images

Aly Song / Reuters

Pigeons fly after the rain as Typhoon Muifa passes near the coastal area of Shanghai, Aug. 7. Typhoon Muifa weakened as it approached China's coast on Sunday, avoiding a direct-hit on the financial capital of Shanghai and veering north towards a tip of Shandong province that juts into the Yellow Sea.

 Read more here.

David Gray / Reuters

Greece's Evangelia Platanioti and Despoina Solomou perform during their synchronized swimming technical duets final at the 14th FINA World Championships in Shanghai on Monday, July 18.

Francois Xavier Marit / AFP - Getty Images

Mary Killman and Lyssa Wallace of the US compete in the technical duets final synchronized swimming competition in the FINA World Championships at the indoor stadium of the Oriental Sports Center, in Shanghai, on Monday, July 18.

Here are a few striking images from today's event.

Related content:

• PhotoBlog: Synchronized blur at the diving competition in Shanghai
• Slideshow: The Week in Sports Pictures

Carlos Barria / Reuters

People enter a subway station in People's Square, Shanghai on April 28.

China's population is aging rapidly, the government said Thursday, though its leaders are refusing to relax strict family planning controls that are part of the cause.

The results of a national census conducted late last year show the proportion of elderly people in the country of 1.34 billion jumped, while that of young people plunged sharply.

The census results, announced Thursday, also show that half the population now lives in cities. Continue reading.

For the second Sunday in a row, an unspecified number of mass gatherings were anonymously called across China to protest against the government and some of its policies. The response of the authorities was swift.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

Police arrest a man after calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" protest, organised through the internet, in front of the Peace Cinema in downtown Shanghai, China on Feb. 27. An online call for anti-government protests across China on Sunday instead brought an emphatic show of force by police determined to deter any buds of the kind of unrest that has shaken the Middle East. Lines of police checked passers-by and warned away foreign photojournalists in downtown Beijing and Shanghai after a U.S.-based Chinese website spread calls for Chinese people to emulate the "Jasmine Revolution" sweeping the Middle East and stage gatherings in support of democratic change.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

Police arrest two men after calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" protest, organised through the internet, in front of the Peace Cinema in downtown Shanghai on Feb. 27.

Click here for an eyewitness report by Adrienne Mong of NBC News, who attended a rally in Beijing.