Forty-two people have died of cold over the past three days in Poland after temperatures plunged to minus-20 degrees Celsius, police said on Monday.
”Six people died on Friday, 15 on Saturday and 21 on Sunday,” national police spokesperson Grazyna Puchalska told AFP.
The deaths brought Poland’s toll since the start of December to 69.
The majority of the victims were homeless men aged between 35 and 50, who died while drunk, said Puchalska.
Police and municipal employees have over recent days stepped up patrols of areas where the homeless are known to gather, notably public parks and allotments, to try to persuade them to head to special hostels.
”Some of them, however, refuse such help,” said Puchalska.
Forecasters have said that temperatures in Poland should rise over coming days. — AFP
