A SEVERE cold snap gripping central and eastern Europe has killed dozens of people in recent days, as blizzards swept the region and temperatures plunged following a relatively mild start to the winter.
More than 60 people have died as a deep freeze settled across countries stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with the death toll highest in Ukraine and transport chaos most severe in Romania and Bulgaria.
Ukraine’s emergencies ministry said 30 people had perished from the cold in the last five days, as the mercury dipped to -33 degrees and forecasters predicted no respite from the chill until the weekend at the earliest.
Officials in Kiev said most of those who died were homeless people who could not find shelter at night, despite the provision of extra accommodation and food kitchens.
Hospitals across the country have also treated more than 600 people for frostbite and other cold-related problems.
Kiev administration chief Oleksandr Popov ordered the capital city’s schools and colleges to close until the end of the week, as ageing heating systems and power networks struggled to cope with the surge in demand.
At least 15 people have died in Poland since a sharp drop in temperatures last weekend, bringing the country’s death toll for the month of January to 27, with most of the victims succumbing to exposure, flu and pneumonia as well as carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty heaters.
Several people have also died in the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Romania and Bulgaria, where until now temperatures had been well above normal for mid-winter.
Blizzards crippled transport across Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia late last week, with the Romanian government forced to deploy the army to rescue thousands of people trapped in snow-bound cars and trains in the south of the country. The chaos did nothing to boost the government’s popularity as it struggles to survive a wave of anti-austerity street protests.
Snowfall blocked the main bridge across the Danube linking Romania with Bulgaria, and ice on several stretches of the river threatened cargo traffic.
Flights were cancelled and diverted and Black Sea ports were closed due to the weather.
Ice covered the Black Sea off the Romanian coast, and a salt-water lake in northern Bulgaria froze for the first time in almost 60 years, as Sofia and several smaller Bulgarian towns endured record low temperatures.
