Saturday, January 3, 2009

25 die in cold-related incidents in UP

3 Jan 2009, 1838 hrs IST, PTI

LUCKNOW: At least 25 people have died in cold-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh in the past 24 hours, reports reaching Lucknow said.



While four deaths due to cold wave were reported from Gorakhpur, two persons each died in Lucknow, Mahoba, Santkabirnagar and Barabanki districts due to cold wave. One death each was reported from Bahraich, Jaunpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Hardoi, Faizabad, Shahjahanpur and Muzaffarnagar, official sources said here.

Three others lost their lives in the district after they got burnt in a fire lit to provide respite from the biting cold, locals said.

The children, Arshad (1) and Samiya (2) died after their house caught fire at Akhlor village. A resident of Titerwada village, Multan Singh (70) also died from burn injuries, they said.

Three people were killed in Kuakheda in Kanpur when their vehicle rammed into a stationary truck due to poor visibility, police said.

The driver of the vehicle, on its way from Kanpur to Fatehpur, and two others -- Kuldeep Lohar and Rakesh died on the spot. The bodies have been sent for a post-mortem, they added.

The state capital on Saturday witnessed 9 degrees Celsius temperature, two degrees above normal, while Kanpur shivered at 5 degrees and remained the coldest in the state, the Met office said.

Heavy fog in the morning disrupted rail and road traffic in the state.

Meanwhile, the state government has directed all the district magistrates to ensure arrangement of bonfires to protect people from the chilly winds.

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