Bitter Cold Grips Europe, 40 Dead in Baltics

LATVIA: January 24, 2006

RIGA - about 40 people have died in the three Baltic states in a wave of bitter cold gripping northern and eastern Europe, as one capital city shivered in its lowest temperature for half a century.

Emergency services said 20 people died in Latvia and at least five in Estonia, while Lithuanian state radio reported 14 deaths as a result of the freeze.
Temperatures in the Baltics plunged to between minus 20 and minus 30 Celsius (minus 4 and minus 22 Fahrenheit) late last week and the region remained in the grip of the big freeze-up over the weekend.

Officials in Romania and the Czech Republic reported nine deaths in the past two days as the cold wave shut Black Sea ports and disrupted transport and energy supplies in parts of Eastern Europe.

Winter weather also hit several parts of Turkey, cutting off nearly 4,000 villages.

The three Baltic states - which joined the European Union and NATO in 2004 - are among the EU's fastest-growing economies. However, they remain among Europe's poorest countries and many of the dead were homeless.

In the Latvian capital Riga, temperatures sank to minus 29C (minus 20F) on Friday, the lowest recorded since 1956, and the Baltic news agency BNS said 10 people froze to death in the capital during the weekend.

Latvia's lowest temperature was minus 33C (minus 27F) recorded in the northeast of the country.

On Monday, the mercury rose in the region, to about minus 12C (10F) in Tallinn, minus 15C (5F) in Vilnius and minus 20C (4F) in Riga.

TOLL COULD RISE

Riga Emergency Centre director Martins Sics said the toll could rise as hospitals were filled with people.

"At the moment we have around 80 people in hospitals in Riga with frostbite injuries and some 50 people in rural hospitals with the same problem," he said. "Some might face amputations."

In Estonia, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Maia Burlaka said: "Yes, more people could die, but the temperature is expected to rise in the coming days."

Lithuanian weather services spokeswoman Eugenija Sakaliute said that many in Lithuania were surprised by the cold snap.

In Romania, temperatures of about minus 25C (minus 13F) killed six men in the east of the country, state radio said.

Romania closed Black Sea ports on Monday, including its largest, Constanta, because of strong winds and shore temperatures as low as minus 17C (1.4F).

Also closed to shipping was the Sulina canal, north of Constanta, and the Danube-Black Sea canal.

Gas agency DNGN said it cut deliveries to the safety level for several chemical plants across Romania, including Azomures SA and fertiliser producer Amonil Slobozia.

Three people froze to death overnight in various parts of the Czech Republic where temperatures dropped as low as minus 30C (minus 22F) and broke historical records in some cities, the Czech news agency CTK reported.

The Temelin nuclear power station in the Czech Republic said it had to shut down its sole functioning reactor for several hours early on Monday because of the low temperatures.

In Germany, the temperature in Berlin hit a low of minus 17.8C (0F) on Monday, the lowest for the date in 64 years.

The Spree River that flows past the Reichstag building was frozen solid and two rail lines cracked, causing widespread disruption. Several underground stations were kept open overnight to provide shelter for the homeless.

At least four deaths were recorded in Germany, including a jogger found dead in a field in Saxony-Anhalt and a homeless man in Wiesbaden.

Heavy snow in Turkey caused the collision of a bus and a Foreign Ministry service vehicle, killing at least nine people including diplomats, the ministry said. Blizzards also forced the closure of the narrow Bosphorus straits to all shipping. Meteorologists forecast temperatures of minus 25 to minus 30 Celsius (minus 13 F to minus 22 F) for the rest of the week.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE