Cold wave kills 64 in Russia
February 3rd, 2012 - 10:42 pm ICT by IANSMoscow, Feb 3 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A severe cold wave has killed 64 people across Russia in January.
About 1,400 people requested medical assistance, with 779 admitted to hospitals, Deputy Health Minister Maxim Topilin said, adding the figures only include data from 50 out of 83 Russian regions.
The temperatures in Russia are 7-12 degrees below normal. The cold snap even extends into the normally warm North Caucasus with temperatures there plummeting to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Siberia and the Far East, no strangers to harsh winter, are currently in a deep freeze at minus 40 degrees Celsius.
An official said five people died overnight in the Russian capital, where low temperatures in different parts of the city dipped to between minus 23 and 27 degrees Celsius.
The biting cold compels Russians to make excessive use of heating devices such as electrical space heaters and furnaces, which increase the chances of house fires.
Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said the number of house fires increased by 30 percent since the severe frosts began this year.
Many of them were caused by electric circuits in overloaded electricity systems, fireplaces and damaged household gas systems.
The Russian Meteorological Bureau said the peak of severe colds has already passed in European Russia, but the temperature will remain 6-8 degrees below the norm for at least another week.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
snb/mr
- Bitter cold may destroy 50 percent of Russia's vineyards - Feb 13, 2012
- Russian army buys cutting-edge mine detectors - Jan 24, 2012
- Ice swimmers vote semi-naked in Russia's Siberia - Mar 05, 2012
- Monkeys in Kazakh zoo get wine to keep warm - Feb 04, 2012
- Cold wave kills over 40 in Ukraine - Feb 02, 2012
- Cold weather kills rare pelicans in Russia - Feb 21, 2012
- Night temperatures rise in Punjab and Haryana - Feb 10, 2012
- Himachal's Keylong in deep freeze at minus 6.1 degrees - Dec 24, 2011
- Cold wave persists over Punjab and Haryana, Amritsar freezes - Jan 10, 2012
- Leh in deep freeze at minus 20 degrees, Srinagar at minus 4.6 - Jan 24, 2011
- Freezing cold sweeps Georgia - Feb 12, 2012
- Cold wave kills over 60 in Ukraine (Lead) - Feb 02, 2012
- Cold wave continues across North India (Roundup) - Jan 10, 2012
- Cold keeps grip on north India, fog affects 51 trains (Roundup) - Dec 28, 2011
- Cold wave on in Punjab, Haryana - Jan 11, 2012
Tags: cold snap, cold wave, colds, deep freeze, deputy health minister, electric circuits, electricity systems, european russia, frosts, furnaces, harsh winter, medical assistance, meteorological bureau, north caucasus, ria novosti, russia moscow, russian capital, russian regions, snb, space heaters