Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 3
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
About 10,800 people who were trapped in the snow in Iranian's 18 provinces have been saved by the country's Red Crescent Society, deputy head of the society, Nasser Charkhsaz said, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Feb. 3.
Some 68 people, who had suffered injuries, were transferred to hospitals for further treatment, he added.
Rescue operations have been launched in northern Gilan and Mazandaran provinces, Charkhsaz said, adding that the highest levels of snowfall were reported in the mentioned two provinces.
He went on to say that, average height of snow in the Gilan and Mazandaran provinces reaches 1.5 meters.
The electricity transmission cables have been damaged due to snowfall in the Mazandaran Province, managing director of Iran Power Generation Transmission & Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR) Homayoun Haeri said, adding that fixing the problem is impossible currently because of road closures.
Crisis staff has been established in the Mazandaran province to resolve the problem.
Schools in Iranian provinces of Ardabil, Markazi, North Khorasan, Hamedan, Qom and Mazandaran have been postponed due to heavy snowfall, Iran's IRIB news agency reported on Feb. 2.
The temperature dropped to 14 degrees below zero in the Ardabil province, according to the report.
The kindergartens and schools in the cities of Ardabil, Sareyn, Khalkhal, Germi, Bilesuvar and Parsabad have also been temporarily closed.
The weather in these provinces is not expected to change before later this week and therefore classes at schools may be postponed for a few days.
Edited by C.N.