COLD TEMPERATURE CLAIMS 10 LIVES

Published: 8 December 2000 y., Friday
Global warming is possibly one of the most serious environmental threats to this planet, but while solutions to this problem are discussed people are freezing to death in Riga. So far this year eight men and two women have died of exposure. Half of the deaths were alcohol related. Research at the State Forensic Medicine Center tells a horrifying story. Annually, between 160 and 170 people, mostly homeless, freeze to death in Riga. The record high was in 1994 when 218 people lost their lives to the cold. Director of the social assistance department at the Ministry of Welfare, Sandra Baltina, said Latvian law holds municipalities responsible for people in need of social assistance, but she is not too impressed with Riga City Council's work. "I think Riga City Council needs to think more about homeless people," Baltina said. "There are not enough beds for homeless people in the shelters." At the moment there are two shelters in Riga. One of them provides 20 beds for women and the other offers 50 beds for men. The City Council is planning to build a new shelter with 200 beds.
Šaltinis: baltictimes.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

"Old Bolshevik editors."

FIDESZ Chairman Says Press 'Ruled By Bolsheviks' more »

Latvia: Police End Extremists' Church Occupation

Latvian police have arrested three members of a small, extremist Russian communist group that had barricaded themselves inside St. Peter's Church in Riga and threatened to blow it up. more »

Canadian Internet Voters Throw Support Behind 'Doris Day'

Internet users want to see Canadian Alliance Party Leader Stockwell Day change his first name to "Doris." more »

Russia hijacking ends peacefully

Airliner with 58 aboard landed at military base in southern Israel. more »

LATVIA'S POPULATION DROPS BY MORE THAN 10 PERCENT

Preliminary census data released by the Central Statistics Office on 7 November indicate that the country's population on 31 March 2000 was 2.375 million. more »

Judge: eBay Not Liable for Bootlegs

A judge ruled online auctioneer eBay Inc. cannot be sued for allowing people to sell bootlegged audio recordings on its Web site. more »

EFFORTS TO OUST TALLINN CITY GOVERNMENT FAILS

The opposition coalition formed last month in Tallinn's City Council was unable to muster the 33 votes needed to oust Tallinn Mayor Juri Mois and City Council Chairman Rein Voog. more »

Former Russian FSB Serviceman Asks For Political Asylum

Alexander Litvinenko, a former serviceman of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), who once had accused his commanders of plotting to murder financier and media tycoon Boris Berezovsky, asked Britain authorities for political asylum. more »

Belgian Police Detain 94 Migrants Headed for UK

Belgian police detained more than 90 people at Zeebrugge and Ostend ports on Tuesday as the migrants were allegedly trying to enter Britain illegally. more »

Government agencies using cookies despite ban

Despite a White House prohibition, 13 government agencies are secretly using technology that tracks the Internet habits of people visiting their Web sites. more »