LIMA, July 25 (UPI) -- The harshest cold spell in 30 years has struck the Andes Mountains in Peru resultingd in the deaths of at least 46 children.
Because of the usually cold weather, the Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency in several regions where 158,000 people have been affected by freezing condtions, the BBC reported Sunday.
United Nations relief agencies said they would provide $745,000 in aid, however, one official said that situation would worsen unless resources were allocated to help the isolated indigenous communities living high in the Andes mountains cope with the severe winter.
The people living in the mountains raise alpacas and lamas, eating their meat and selling the wool, but the animals are dying from the cold. Heavy rain and snowfall has blocked passages to the outside world.
