Cold snap easing in Europe

WARSAW: A cold snap that has killed hundreds eased its grip on Europe yesterday, but dozens remained trapped in Balkan villages amid snowstorms, while further fatalities were reported in Romania.

Five people had frozen to death in Romania in the past day, the health ministry said yesterday, bringing the number of casualities from the cold snap to 79.

The situation continued to remain worrying in villages in southern Romania, which remained inaccessible behind snowdrifts up to five metres tall after a three-day snowstorm that engulfed the region, authorities said.

Some of the villages and hamlets have gone for days without power, heating and food.

The military and rescuers have been working frantically to reach those areas.

The Western Balkans enjoyed clear skies after the massive blizzard that began on Friday, but dozens of villages and thousands of people - often elderly - remained blocked in by tall drifts and avalanches.

Road workers and rescuers were trying to clear pathways to the snowed-in areas, before new blizzards arrive - as forecast - at the end of the week.

Doctors in Poland were still working to establish the identity of a middle-aged man who had been found in the southern Tatra mountains on Friday. He was hospitalised with frostbite and was conscious, but did not respond to questions, doctors said.

Local police said the man had not been prepared for the cold weather and it was not known how long he had been in the mountains.