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In Pictures

Gallery|Climate Crisis

One person killed as snow smothers Moscow

Record snowfall buries Russian capital, killing one person and injuring 22 others mostly in vehicle accidents.

Moscow Snow
Heavy snow smothered Moscow over the past two days. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE]
Published On 5 Feb 20185 Feb 2018

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One person has been killed and 22 more injured after heavy snow choked the Russian capital, Moscow.

The relentless snow turned heavy on Saturday and continued throughout Sunday. New daily snowfall records were set, meaning more snow fell on February 3-4 than had ever been recorded.

By Monday, 55cm of snow had accumulated in the city. This is way above average, by 19cm, but misses the 2013 record by 1cm.

The heavy snow weighed down trees, pulling down at least 2,000. Some trees hit power lines, resulting in more than 40,000 power cuts to households.

The severe weather disrupted transport and led to a sharp increase in traffic accidents. The majority of those who were injured because of the harsh conditions were hurt in car accidents.

Some roads were made impassable by the snow, and the power outages caused some traffic lights to go out.

More than 100 flights were delayed, and nearly 30 flights were cancelled in major airports in Moscow.

As of Sunday, local authorities had dispatched 15,000 snow-removing vehicles to clear the city.

The snow has now eased across the city, and instead, the temperature has plummeted. A maximum of a bone-chilling minus -11 Celsius is expected over the next few days.

Moscow Snow
By Monday, 55cm of snow had accumulated in the city. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE]
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Moscow Snow
The heavy snow weighed down trees, pulling down over 2,000 of them. [Yuri Kadobnov/AFP]
Moscow Snow
Locals were advised to avoid parking under trees in case they fell on their vehicles. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE]
Moscow Snow
Over 40,000 customers lost power during the snowstorm. [Yuri Kadobnov/AFP]
Moscow Snow
The snow severely disrupted transport and triggered numerous traffic accidents. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE]
Moscow Snow
15,000 snow-removing vehicles were dispatched to clear the snow. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE]
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Moscow Snow
The snow has now eased in Moscow, but the temperature will stay below -11C over the next few days. [Olga Maltseva/AFP]


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