The Post

Icebreaker­s deployed as big chill bites

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EUROPE: Serbia deployed three icebreaker­s yesterday to smash huge blocks of ice jamming parts of the Danube River and to prevent damage to bridges and ships moored along the crucial waterway, as a big winter freeze continues to grip Europe.

Serbia’s only icebreaker and two more vessels that arrived from neighbouri­ng Hungary ploughed through the thick ice to free it up to move downstream.

Dozens of smaller boats and floating homes have been damaged or destroyed over the past week along a stretch of the Danube in the capital, Belgrade, as ice ripped through marinas and moorings.

Serbian officials said they were concerned that the accumulate­d ice could raise water levels and contribute to flooding.

‘‘The most critical situation is near Belgrade and near Kla do vo [250 kilometres east of Belgrade],’’ said Veljko Kovacevic, assistant minister in the ministry of constructi­on, traffic and infrastruc­ture.

Last week Serbia halted navigation on the Danube because of the danger the ice blocks presented, forcing oil and petrol retailers to seek alternativ­e means of transporta­tion.

Healthcare systems across Europe are teetering under increasing pressure from winter illnesses.

Too many people are flocking to accident and emergency department­s, and bed shortages have been exposed by an outbreak of flu that is stretching German hospitals to breaking point and has triggered emergency measures in France to keep services going.

Last week in Munich, 15 of the city’s 19 hospitals reached capacity for emergency care, sending ambulances to shop around for empty beds. There have been evenings when no accident and emergency department­s in the city are open for admissions.

France’s network of state hospitals was ‘‘cracking up’’ under the strain of the flu epidemic, which was expected to affect more than 1 million people, said Christophe Prudhomme, delegate for the health branch of the Confederat­ion Generale du Travail union.

Many patients have been left on stretchers in corridors for more than 24 hours as staff search for beds. Some A&Es are so overworked that patients are being forced to wait in ambulances.

– Reuters, The Times

 ?? PHOTO: REUTERS ?? People walk past a houseboat trapped and crushed by the ice floes on the frozen Danube River in Belgrade yesterday.
PHOTO: REUTERS People walk past a houseboat trapped and crushed by the ice floes on the frozen Danube River in Belgrade yesterday.

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