Heavy snowfall closes roads across Turkey
Baku, December 13 (AZERTAC). Cold weather that brought heavy snowfall across Turkey made roads around the country impassible over the weekend, stranding many in their vehicles while leaving many locals trapped, news agencies reported Sunday.
Twenty miners were forced to stay in a mine in the Central Anatolian province of Konya when they could not surface due to the snow covering the mine`s entrance.
The road between the Aegean provinces of Kütahya and Afyonkarahisar was shut to traffic for five hours, leaving nearly 200 vehicles stranded in the blizzard and causing 30 accidents.
In eastern provinces, the snow reached a depth of 10 centimeters in city centers and 20 centimeters on hills. The roads to 58 villages and 140 farm fields were closed to traffic in the eastern province of Hakkari, Doğan news agency reported.
On Uludağ, a mountain in northwestern Turkey known for its ski resorts, a half-meter of snow fell during the storm.
Snow also fell in the Black Sea region, with the roads to 299 villages in Samsun, 178 villages in Sinop, 200 villages in Çorum and 60 villages in Amasya being shut to traffic. Maintenance crews have been working overtime to salt down the roads and reopen them.
The heavy snow even surprised the far southwestern province Muğla, which had not seen snow for 10 years.
“The snow both astonished and cheered our citizens, who made snowballs on the streets,” said Muğla Mayor Osman Gürün.
Some drivers were trapped for 24 hours on their way from the Aegean province of Aydın to the Mediterranean province of Antalya.
The cold weather is expected to continue Monday over large parts of Turkey, with temperatures of between minus 4 to minus 6 degrees Celsius forecast for Afyonkarahisar, Kütahya and Hakkari.
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