650 malaria deaths in Eastern Europe

More than 650 people were killed in a record cold spell in Eastern Europe, while heavy snow also caused a spate of serious accidents uninterrupted.

Scene after a traffic accident caused by heavy snowfall, near Veznice, Czech Republic.

Since late January this year, Eastern Europe suffered a record cold wave, taking the biggest snowstorm recently. The snow wall blocking the way and made many thousands of people trapped in shortages of food and heating. Authorities in the Eastern European countries were struggling to reach new areas affected, to bring emergency relief goods by air.

Only in Russia and Ukraine, officials in both countries announced this yesterday, more than 300 people have died in the cold. Russian officials said the water temperature is sometimes down to a record from -58 to -60 degrees C, as 205 malaria deaths this year. Meanwhile, unusually cold as 112 people died in Ukraine and 107 in Poland. Besides, there are seven people died in Romania in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 86 people here. In Lithuania there are 23 dead, while other deaths were reported in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

In the Czech Republic, two serious accidents since the snow storm has damaged about 100 cars, while blocking a main highway connecting the capital Prague with the eastern part of the country and Slovakia. In the first accident, about 40 cars crashing through uninterrupted afternoon, as two people were injured when a powerful ice storm occurred in the east of Prague. The accident remains in the southeast of Prague, another dozen cars, including a bus was damaged and five people injured.

In Romania, about 23,000 people remain isolated in 225 residential areas east of the country. Heavy snowfall over the past week there have been many road blocks and causing damage to the rail network. People are so worried about their homes might collapse if the snow continued to fall thick, while the officials to strive for food aid, water, medicine and firewood.