Moscow deaths soar amid wildfires smog

The number of deaths in Moscow is twice as high as usual because of smog suffocating the city from ongoing wildfires nearby, the Russian capital's chief health official said today.

The Interfax news agency quoted Andrei Seltsovky as saying there were now 1,300 bodies in city morgues, which have a 1,500 capacity.

He said this was twice the usual number for this time of year, and in part blamed the sweltering heat and the polluting smog hanging over the capital from wildfires burning in the south and west of the country.

For a fourth day, air pollutants were registered at dangerous levels today.

Weekend concentrations of carbon monoxide and other poisonous substances were seven times higher than what is considered safe, and today were two to three times higher than the safe limit.