India: Death Toll from Cold Wave Rises to 140

At least 140 people have died during a three-week-long cold spell sweeping across India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, news reports said.

As many as 11 deaths occurred in the Barabanki, Sultanpur and Etah districts of India’s most populous state on Saturday, broadcaster CNN-IBN reported. The death toll had stood at 107 on Thursday.

Muzaffarnagar was the coldest in the state, with the temperature dipping to 0.3 degrees Celsius, according to the Voice of Russia.

Officials from the state’s disaster relief department have denied that the deaths were due to the cold snap. However, reports said many homeless and poor had died from exposure. Some people also died in road accidents due to fog.

In the north, New Delhi and the Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh also experienced cold weather.

Saturday’s minimum temperature in the Indian capital was recorded at 1.9 degrees Celsius, the coldest night-time temperature this winter.

R.S