More than 100 die of exposure in cold snap

More than 100 people have died of exposure as northern India deals with unusually low temperatures.

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LUCKNOW // More than 100 people have died of exposure as northern India deals with unusually low temperatures.

At least 114 people have died from the cold in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a police spokesman, Surendra Srivastava, said yesterday. At least 23 of those died in the past 24 hours.

Mr Srivastava said many of the dead were poor people whose bodies were found on sidewalks or in parks.

The weather department said temperatures in the state were between 4 and 10°C below normal.

New Delhi suffered its coldest day in 44 years amid the cold snap across northern India, meteorologists said. The maximum temperature on Wednesday reached just 9.8°C, the lowest since the winter of 1969 - when records first began - with a low of 4.8°C.

There is expected to be little respite in the coming few days with the weather office forecasting that chilly conditions will prevail.

The unusual cold has been attributed to dense fog that has obscured the sun and disrupted air and rail services, as well as icy winds from the snowy Himalayas to the north.

Winter in the Indian capital usually lasts through January before giving way to spring and summer, when temperatures regularly rise to 45°C.

* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse