Saturday, January 7, 2006
States
Cold toll rises to 120, fog hits flights, trains
Agence France-Presse
Lucknow, January 7, 2006
The death toll from the cold waves blanketing north India has risen to 120 after nine more people died on Friday night.
The latest deaths were reported from the northern part of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and one of the poorest states, an administration spokesman said.
The fog has disrupted flights and delayed passenger trains. Airports across north India reported chaos as the fog brought down visibility on the runways.
Several inter-state train services were also cancelled and some more were delayed because of heavy fog on the tracks.
Uttar Pradesh, where around 20 per cent of the population is homeless, has so far accounted for 99 of the deaths caused due to the excessive cold that is continuing in northern India since early December.
The unrelenting bad weather, compounded by erratic power supply, has also claimed 17 and four lives in Punjab and Haryana respectively, the official added.
Last year, some 420 people had died from cold in Uttar Pradesh alone.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.