Cold blamed for 15 deaths in Poland
Last Updated: Sunday, December 20, 2009 | 10:23 AM ET
The Associated Press
Fifteen people froze to death in Poland overnight as temperatures fell as low as –20 C in some places, police said Sunday.
Police are appealing to Poles to alert authorities if they come across homeless or drunk people lying outdoors in an attempt to lower the number of people who die each winter from the bitter cold.
Officials in Poland said 47 people have already frozen to death countrywide since the beginning of December.
In Austria, authorities reported two people froze to death as they tried to make their way home after evenings out. Both were found in the southern province of Styria, where temperatures fell below –20 C.
A homeless Polish man was found dead Saturday in the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille, where temperatures fell to around freezing.
In Germany, temperatures sank to between –15 and –20 C overnight across much of the country. A homeless man in Mannheim apparently froze to death early Saturday as he slept near disused railway tracks after drinking, police said.
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