1 dead as Greece still struggles to cope with cold front

An elderly Greek man lost his life on Thursday due to the frost as Greece tried to cope with the cold front that swept a large part of the country in the past week.

The victim slipped and was fatally injured outside his home in the city of Karditsa in central Greece, local STAR TV channel reported.

The snow snap that gripped much of the country started to subside, but authorities in several regions were still struggling to tackle the consequences of the heavy snowfall.

A state of emergency was declared in western Macedonia and Evros near the borders with Turkey, as well as in the western Aegean islands of Skopelos and Alonissos where electricity and water supply were partially restored on Thursday.

Dozens of mountain villages nationwide were cut off for 3 to 4 days and schools would remain closed in many areas on the mainland and the islands also on Friday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

The Fire Brigade announced that since Saturday firemen had intervened in at least 87 cases to transfer patients to hospitals and move 336 citizens to safety throughout the country.

Rescue teams backed by Greek Air Force helicopters managed to rescue 16 shepherds trapped by deep snow in two operations on Skopelos where the snow had reached two meters on several parts of the island.

Strong winds, low visibility, and heavy snowfall disrupted flights and train journeys in northern Greece and snow chains were mandatory for vehicles moving on the regional roads and parts of the Athens-Thessaloniki national motorway.

Although on Thursday snowfall had turned to rainfall in many areas, meteorologists noted that the thick snow and ice would take some days to melt. Endit