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Spain dispatches convoys with vaccines and food supplies amid heavy snowfall

WION Web Team
New Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jan 10, 2021, 05:26 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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Authorities in Spain are sending out convoys with coronavirus vaccines and food supplies to areas that have been cut off by Storm Filomena

Authorities in Spain are sending out convoys with coronavirus vaccines and food supplies to areas that have been cut off by Storm Filomena.

The storm has brought the country's heaviest snowfall in decades and has led to the deaths of four people.

In Madrid alone, rescuers attempted to reach 1,500 people who remained trapped in cars. The police also had to break apart a large snowfall fight. Authorities in the country are urging people to stay at home to avoid grave accidents, and also to limit the spread of COVID-19.

According to weather experts, dangerous conditions await Spain, with temperatures expected to drop up to -10 degree Celsius (14 F) by next week. 

They also warned of the snow turning to ice, which would cause damaged trees to fall, potentially harming others.

"Due to the heavy snow in Madrid the airport has suspended operations at least until Sunday evening - if you are flying to or from Madrid, follow @aena or contact your airline," Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya tweeted.

The storm has affected over 20,000 kilometres worth of roads across central regions of Spain. In response to the crisis, the government is sending convoys with vaccines and food supplies to people in need, as stated by the country's transport minister Jose Luis Abalos on Saturday.

An uncanny incident happened in Madrid on Saturday, whereby a woman had to give birth in an ambulance as the health authorities could not reach the hospital owing to the weather conditions.

Near Malaga in southern Spain, a man and a woman drowned after a river burst. In Madrid and Calatayud, two homeless people also froze to death.

On Saturday, the capital city of Madrid recorded 20-30 cms (7-8 inches) of snow, the most since 1971, as stated by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).