RUSSIA: Millions of Muscovites were advised to stay indoors yesterday as thick smog from forest fires choked the city.
Members of the Irish football squad arrived in the city yesterday ahead of their Euro 2004 qualifier match against Russia tomorrow. Initial reports that the game might be under threat were dismissed last by Russian and FAI officials.
Nonetheless, the smog was such that schoolchildren were kept inside and officials warned that pregnant women and people with heart conditions should take extra precautions as the fires raged in peat bogs and forests around the rim of the capital.
"We are concerned about children and pregnant women as they are the most sensitive to this," Russia's chief medical officer, Mr Gennady Onishchenko, told NTV television.
"People who smoke and drink are also more at risk," he said, adding that those with heart or respiratory problems were advised to stay at home.
All three of the city's major airports were closed for a time. The city's meteorological service said carbon monoxide readings were more than twice the permissible level. The smoky haze, which has cloaked the capital for several days, shrouded the morning sun and crept into homes, offices and metro stations as firefighters battled to control the blazes.
City officials recommended hanging damp sheets over the windows to absorb the smog, but said there was no need to panic.
A cargo plane and helicopters have been drafted in to help fight up to 200 fires. - (Reuters)