KABUL, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - Unusually severe cold weather has taken the lives of 797 people in Afghanistan so far, the chief of Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authorities (ANDMA) said on Monday.
The national weather authorities said this winter is the coldest on record with temperatures reaching lows of -30 degrees Centigrade (-22 Fahrenheit) in 17 of the country's 34 provinces.
"At the moment, the cold weather has killed 797 people, and 231 have suffered cold-related injuries" Abdul Matin Adrak told a news conference.
At least 100 people across the country have had limbs amputated due to frostbite, most of them shepherds who became lost in mountainous areas. The number of amputees is still on the rise, though a warm front has reached the country.
Avalanches and heavy snowfall have also destroyed 734 houses in the impoverished country, and nearly 230,000 cattle have died since blizzards and frost hit Afghanistan in late December.
People in Afghanistan's northern provinces, stricken with hunger and cold, have apparently even taken to selling their children to buy bread and coal. At least six cases have been reported in the Baghlan province this month alone. Aid workers have also reported being attacked by starving Afghan mountain dwellers.
