New Ice Age in Europe: Serbia

Serbia snow strands thousands

Heavy snow has left at least 11,000 villagers cut off in remote areas of Serbia amid a European cold snap that has claimed more than 130 lives


Story from BBC News
Published: 02.02.2012.

Tweet

At least six people have died in Serbia, with emergency services expressing concern for the health of the sick and the elderly in particular.

Temperatures are below -30C (-22F) in parts of Europe and 63 people have died in Ukraine and 29 in Poland. In Italy, weather experts say it is the coldest week for 27 years.

Emergency services in Serbia have described the situation, close to the country's south-western borders with Kosovo and Montenegro, as very serious.

In places, the snow has reached a depth of 2m (6ft 6in). Fourteen municipalities are affected, emergency official Predrag Maric told the BBC.

Helicopters have helped move several people to safety, and food and medicines have been airlifted to isolated areas.

Snow began falling in Serbia on 7 January and has hardly stopped since, says BBC correspondent Nick Thorpe. Serbian media say further snow is expected in the coming days.

Ukraine has seen the highest number of fatalities, many of them homeless. Over a 24-hour period, as many as 20 people died.

Food shortages have been reported in the capital, Kiev, because lorries have been unable to transport supplies. (...)

Read FULL ARTICLE HERE