13 people rescued from snowdrifts in Almaty and Atyrau oblasts

In Almaty oblast two sedan cars got caught in a snowdrift, a Tengrinews.kz journalist reports. According to the local emergency service, all the 8 people have been rescued. The incident occurred February 27 at 9 a.m. Astana time. “The cars were driving along the Usharal-Dostyk highway and got caught in a snowdrift. 5 officers of the local emergency service came just in time to rescue all of them”, the emergency service spokesman said. According to the emergency service, the highway has been blocked because of snow tempest and glaze. Motorists are advised against long-run trips. A similar case was reported a day earlier in Atyrau oblast. 2 cars with a total of 5 people fell victim to a snowdrift 30 km away from the village Kulsary. All of them were rescued. In a separate statement, Emergency Service of Kazakhstan reports that in a number of towns in East Kazakhstan and Akmolinsk oblast school lessons have been suspended because of freezing temperatures. Severe frost has hit Zyryanovsk (-38 degrees Celsius), Usk-Kamonogorsk (-33), Semei (-30), Ridder (-29) in East Kazakhstan. School classes were canceled three times last week because of inclement weather conditions.