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| 01 sep 2013 |
07:17 |
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Peru snow state of emergency extended to more regions
The Peruvian government has extended to nine more regions a state of emergency called to cope with unusually cold weather and heavy snowfall.
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- At least two people have died and 33,000 others have been affected by the cold spell, local officials say.
- Tens of thousands of animals have frozen to death over the past week.
- President Ollanta Humala has travelled to Apurimac, one of the worst-hit areas, to oversee the distribution of emergency aid.
- The state of emergency would be in place for 20 days, an official statement said.
- The heaviest snow fall to hit Peru in a decade has killed tens of thousands of llamas, alpacas, cattle and sheep, and left farmers destitute.
- A man died when the roof of his hut caved in under the weight of the snow in southern Carabaya province but the circumstances of the second death were unclear.
- Three people were rescued on Saturday from the same region after their home was cut off by snow.
- Rescue workers said the three, two girls and an elderly woman, were suffering from frostbite and snow blindness.
- The cold front has also hit Peru's south-eastern neighbour, Bolivia, and Paraguay, where a combined total of five people have died.
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