Death Toll Rises As Europe Shivers In Renewed Cold Wave - AFP

[hatrack]

Polish and Ukrainian authorities on Monday revised upwards the human toll from the freezing weather that has gripped eastern Europe since the beginning of the year as temperatures plummeted again. Following the deaths of eight people in the previous 24 hours, 738 people had succumbed to the intense cold since mid-January, the Ukrainian health ministry said.

More than 7,500 people were treated by doctors and 4,464 were admitted to hospital. Many of those who died were homeless, the ministry said.

In Poland, police said the country's coldest winter in nearly 20 years had killed 233 people since October. "Last week alone, 19 people died of cold. That's an exceptionally high number," police spokeswoman Grazyna Puchalska told AFP. "The toll has already exceeded the total number of deaths from cold last winter, when 190 people died. And winter is not over yet," she added.

More than 100 of this year's victims were homeless people, and 43 were from the capital, Warsaw, or its suburbs. Many were heavy drinkers. Temperatures plunged to minus 26 Celsius (minus 15 Fahrenheit) in northeastern Poland at the weekend, while a low of minus 11 C (12 F) was recorded overnight Sunday in Warsaw.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Europes_Winter_Death_Toll_Rises_As_Temperatures_Dip_Again.html

[Boomer]

1. Scrooge would applaud...

... the poor houses won't be overburdened now.