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Smog Smothers Moscow for 2nd Day

   VOA News 07 August 2010
   A  man  walks along a row of the charred chimneys, all what is left of
   the  houses  recently  burned to the ground by a spreading wildfire at
   the  village  of  Peredeltsy  in  the  Ryazan region, some 180 km (111
   miles) southeast of Moscow, 7 Aug 2010

Photo: AP

   A  man  walks along a row of the charred chimneys, all what is left of
   the  houses  recently  burned to the ground by a spreading wildfire at
   the  village  of  Peredeltsy  in  the  Ryazan region, some 180 km (111
   miles) southeast of Moscow, 7 Aug 2010

   Thick, hazy smog is suffocating Russia's capital for a second day in a
   row,  forcing  residents  to  seek  safety indoors even as they battle
   near-record heat.
   Russian officials said Saturday the smog is now being fanned by almost
   600  peat and forest fires raging across drought-stricken parts of the
   country with no let-up in sight.
   They  said  temperatures  are  expected  to  push  close to 40 degrees
   Celsius  for  the  next  few  days  and  that airborne pollutants have
   already risen to six times the normal level.
   In Moscow, residents and tourists who did venture outside wore scarves
   or  surgical  masks.   But  one  British tourist said the smog was so
   thick  it  was  difficult  to  see  any of the city's landmarks from a
   distance.
   The  smog  also  caused more delays and cancellations at Moscow's main
   airport Saturday, with some flights diverted to other cities.
   Russia's  Premier League also canceled two football matches because of
   the  smoke.   And  a match between the Russian and Bulgarian national
   teams was moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
   Also  Saturday,  President  Dmitri Medvedev said he had donated almost
   $12,000 of his own money to help Russians affected by the fires.
   Russian  officials  say  the  fires have killed at least 52 people and
   left thousands homeless.
   More  than 150,000 firefighters, soldiers and others have been working
   to  put  out  the  fires,  but officials say the efforts have not been
   enough  to  stop the dense smoke from seeping into homes and buildings
   in the Russian capital, as well as the city's subway system.
   Health officials in Russia compare daily exposure to the air pollution
   to smoking several packs of cigarettes.
   Images  this  week  from the U.S. space agency, NASA, showed the smoke
   plume  from  the  fires  extending about 3,000 kilometers from east to
   west.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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