Deaths in Moscow have doubled to an average of 700 people a day
A top health official said Monday: In the Russian capital is engulfed by poisonous smog from wildfires and a sweltering heat wave, .
The chied Andrei Seltsovky from the Moscow health blamed weeks of unprecedented heat and suffocating smog for the rise in mortality compared to the same time last year, Russian news agencies reported. He said city morgues were nearly overflowing, filled with 1,300 bodies, close to their capacity.
The smog blanketed Moscow for a six straight day Monday, with concentrations of carbon monoxide and other poisonous substances two to three times higher than what is considered safe.
The separate 550 blazes were burning nationwide Monday, mainly across western Russia, including about 40 around Moscow, according to the Emergencies Ministry. Forest and peat bog fires have been triggered by the most intense heat wave in 130 years of record keeping.
The head of Russia’s weather service Alexander Frolov, said judging by historic documents, this heat wave could be the worst in up to 1,000 years.He also said at a news conference :”Our ancestors haven’t observed or registered a heat like that within 1,000 years, this phenomenon is absolutely unique.” also added “the heat in Moscow reflects the global climate’s increased volatility”.
Health expert at the World Health Organization in Geneva Diarmid Campbell Lendrum said:”deaths could certainly double with higher temperatures alone a phenomenon seen during Europe’s 2003 heat wave”.
Few apartments in Moscow have air conditioning and the city’s overcrowded subway is poorly ventilated.Campbell said it would be difficult to pinpoint whether the majority of new Russian deaths were due to the heat or to the smog.
The people and those with health conditions like heart or lung problems were most at risk, but with extreme conditions, there could also be a spike in deaths of otherwise healthy people, and the increased deaths would likely continue for as long as the heat wave persists.
One blogger on the popular LiveJournal site suggested that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Moscow’s mayor and other top officials be fired for not stopping the fires. Another LiveJournal blogger said the polluting haze had prompted her to quit smoking.
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