- Title: RUSSIA: MOSCOW SHIVERS THROUGH ARCTIC COLD TEMPERATURES
- Date: 15th December 1997
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 15, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV ICE SCULPTURES ,TROIKA 0.04 2. SV ICE BEAR 0.08 3. SV RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS CHARACTER "SNOWFLAKE" AND FATHER CHRISTMAS 0.12 4. ICE SNOW SCENE 0.16 5. SV BALLOONS ON MARKET BUILDING AND PAN OUT TO FIRE IN CENTRAL MOSCOW MARKET 0.22 6. SV SMOKE COMING OU
- Embargoed: 30th December 1997 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City:
- Country: Russia
- Reuters ID: LVAMHL1MDTCXFZY0FBCRQSHNXJ5
- Story Text: - INTRO: Moscow has shivered through Arctic cold temperatures that fell to -32 Celsius (minus 26 Fahrenheit).
The cold weather sent Moscow's firemen scrambling across the city on Monday and Tuesday (December 15/16) as gas lines and pipes burst from the cold.
Firefighting crews reported that more than 300 fires had broken out in the past two days, setting a record.
The temperatures themselves also surpassed previous records for the second day in a row. Similar cold temperatures have not been felt for 25 years, said Tamara Minatsikanyan, chief meterologist for weather prognosis in the Moscow region.
Fewer than the normal flow of pedestrians filled the city centre and hardy traders braced themselves against the chill to sell their wares to the few passing buyers.
Schoolchildren in the four youngest classes at primary schools across Moscow stayed home, following the example of their president.
President Boris Yeltsin is recuperating at a sanatorium just outside the capital after contracting a respiratory viral infection.
Yeltsin's doctors had suggested he might take a stroll as his health improved, but the fierce cold has kept him confined indoors.
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