Cold snap kills 63 in Ukraine

Sixty-three people have died from the severe cold weather that has gripped Ukraine since last weekend, the Emergencies Ministry said on Thursday, citing data from the Health Ministry. At least 1,146 people suffering from frostbite or hypothermia have arrived at hospitals over the last six days. Some 945 were hospitalized. A total of 63 died of hypothermia, including eight in hospitals, 41 people on the streets, and another 14 in their homes. Ukrainian forecasters expect very cold weather to continue on February 2, dropping to a nighttime low of minus 25-30 degrees Celsius (minus 13-22 degrees Fahrenheit) and in some places as low as minus 33 degrees Celsius. Almost 70 cars and 60 people remain trapped by snowdrifts on the Volgograd- Saratov highway in the Volga region, a spokesman for the regional Interior Ministry said. “Twenty-five riot police were sent to the scene... According to police, 38 people were evacuated to temporary accommodations. About 60 people remain on the road,” the spokesman, Svetlana Smolyaninova said. “The drifts are up to 3.5 meters high, the temperature is minus 20 degrees Celsius and the wind is gusting up to 20 meters/second (45 miles/hour). The weather is forecast to remain poor for the next two days,” said Smolyaninova. In Georgia, high winds and heavy snow damaged power lines, leaving more than 72,000 customers without power, according to Georgian power distribution companies.