KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry for Emergency Situations said Saturday 926 people have died since cold weather gripped Afghanistan in December.
The ministry spokesman told RIA Novosti that with temperatures throughout Afghanistan plummeting, the death toll rose by 129 in the last five days alone.
With temperatures in half of Afghanistan's 34 provinces falling to 22 degrees below zero at times, national weather authorities have officially called this winter the coldest in the country's history.
As the number of weather-related deaths rises, so do the reported number of amputations related to the frigid temperatures. To date, at least 100 people in Afghanistan have lost limbs to frostbite.
RIA Novosti said the cold weather also has led to food shortages in some parts of Afghanistan, along with the destruction of more than 730 homes and the deaths of nearly 315,000 cattle.
