Avalanche death toll rises

Rescuers have found a five-year-old girl alive in the rubble of her house in the wake of a massive avalanche that struck the remote mountain village of Restelica in Kosovo on Saturday. The death toll from the disaster rose to nine on Sunday, adding to the more than 500 people killed in snow and freezing temperatures across Europe this winter.

Klan Kosova TV showed footage of rescuers from the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) cheering as the girl emerged alive from a house which had been buried under 10 meters (33 feet) of snow. The girl had been discovered after officers heard her voice and the ringing of a mobile phone. She is now recovering in hospital.

KSF reported that one person remained missing after the avalanche enveloped 15 houses a day earlier.

Heavy snow, freezing temperatures

In neighboring Montenegro, where the government has introduced a state of emergency, special police forces reached a train which had been left stranded by avalanches for two days.

Police said a 55-year-old passenger had died from a heart attack late on Saturday, while the estimated 50 remaining passengers were sheltering in a nearby tunnel waiting for evacuation.

Snow has blocked roads and railways across most of the country for several days.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfall continued in Serbia where some 50,000 people remained trapped in remote villages. The government, which has also declared a state of emergency, has ordered the closure of all schools and non-essential businesses.

In Poland, some 20 people have died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to at least 100. An Interior Ministry spokeswoman said the latest victims had frozen to death or were suffocated or killed by fires caused by defective or improvised heaters. 

In many parts of Europe, temperatures have plummeted to -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) in a cold snap which hit the continent in late January. Meteorologists said freezing temperatures could continue until March.

ccp/dfm (AP, Reuters)