Cold snap leaves 40 dead
2010-01-25 21:06
Bucharest - A cold snap in eastern and south east Europe has left more than 40 people dead as temperatures plunged to minus 35°C, authorities said on Monday.
Snow has blanketed swathes of western Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, while Poland has again gripped by a deep freeze that has killed more than 200 people since November.
In Bulgaria, schools remained closed on Monday in many eastern towns while rescue services fought their way through four metre high snowdrifts to bring bread and other necessities to cut-off villages.
In Romania temperatures fell to minus 34.4°C in the centre of the country, roads were cut off and dozens of trains cancelled.
"A total of 22 deaths have been recorded since the current cold snap started five days ago," health ministry spokesperson Oana Grigore told AFP.
"Most of them were elderly, homeless people," junior minister Raed Arafat said on Realitatea TV channel.
With no let-up in view before Wednesday, authorities have maximised efforts to identify thousands of homeless people and take them to shelters.
Siberian cold is expected to continue in the centre and north-east of Romania until Wednesday, according to the Romanian meteorological institute.
Fierce snowstorm
In Turkey, five people died after a fierce snowstorm caused power outages at the weekend in Istanbul, while further west, near the Greek and Bulgarian borders, villages and major roads were blocked by snow.
Snow could reach 35cm deep in some parts of Istanbul, a city of 14 million people, according to the natural disaster coordination centre.
In Bulgaria, the Siberian cold front left three people dead over the weekend, authorities reported on Monday.
The whole country saw temperatures well below freezing, in what weather services had said would be the coldest day this winter. Minus 29°C was recorded in the northern town of Glavinitza.
In Poland temperatures as low as minus 35°C over the weekend claimed 11 lives, police said on Monday.
"The victims are mainly homeless and individuals who abused alcohol," lowering their resistance to cold, spokesperson Kamila Szala told AFP.
Police believe that alcohol also played a part in the death of a 13-year-old boy who died of hypothermia near his home in Glowienka, a village in south east Poland.
"We know that Kamil was drinking alcohol on Saturday with his 15-year-old brother and 16-year cousin, who both went home to alert parents," local police spokesman Pawel Miedlar told AFP.
"The parents alerted the police on Sunday morning, when it was already too late."
"This winter's death toll is tragic - despite constant police warnings and aid to people at risk," Szala said, adding that 202 people had lost their lives to exposure in Poland since November.
The victims were mainly homeless men aged 35 to 60 under the influence of alcohol who refused to stay at shelters for the homeless, she added.
Weather forecasters have predicted more severe sub-zero temperatures across Poland in the coming days.