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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 10:00 a.m. ET -- A five-year-old girl has been found alive in the rubble of a house flattened by a massive avalanche that killed at least nine people, including her parents, in a remote mountain village in southern Kosovo.
Col. Shemsi Syla, a spokesman for the Kosovo Security Force, said the girl was discovered in the ruins — buried under 10 meters (33 feet) of snow — when officers heard her voice and the ringing of a cell phone.
Osman Qerreti, an emergency official at the site, told The Associated Press that at least nine people died in the avalanche that hit the village of Restelica near Kosovo's border with Macedonia and Albania Saturday, destroying seven houses of which only two were inhabited. The rescuers were looking for one more person.
The girl, identified only by her last name Reka, was recovering in hospital in the nearby town of Prizren where doctors said her life was not in danger. She had been buried for more than 10 hours.
NATO peacekeepers, deployed in Kosovo to end the armed conflict between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in 1999, had been called in to help local authorities in the rescue operation, but were unable to land a helicopter in the blizzard.
Rescuers — mostly local villagers using shovels — initially dug out the bodies of a married couple and their 17-year-old son. Six more bodies were discovered during the overnight and Sunday excavation.
"No bigger tragedy has ever struck this region," said local district official Behar Ramadani. "Two brothers with their wives and children have been killed."
The cold snap in Europe, which began in late January, has killed hundreds of people — most of them homeless. Heavy snow has been blanketing the Balkans for more than two weeks, with Restelica and roads in the region blocked for several days.
Heavy snow fell across Italy on Saturday, blanketing Rome, cutting off mountain villages and disrupting roads, railways and airports around the country.
The return within days of the heaviest snowfalls in Rome since the 1980s shut sites such as the Colosseum but gave tourists and residents another chance to see landmarks such as Saint Peter's Square and the Trevi fountain dusted with snow.
Rome's Fiumicino airport planned to cancel half of flights from 1600 GMT on Saturday, Italy's civil aviation authority Enac said in a statement. Several other airports across the country were closed or reducing operations.
In parts of England, temperatures plunged to around 0F overnight Friday, the Telegraph newspaper reported. A recording by an amateur weatherman of -1.1F was the lowest thermometer reading in Surrey since 1947, the Telegraph said.
In Kosovo, three people died and two children were injured on Thursday when a gas can that a family was using for heating exploded.
Kosovo's government ordered schools to remain closed for another week with more snow expected. Police said many inhabited areas were completely cut off.
In neighbouring Montenegro the government imposed a state of emergency late on Saturday after snow blocked roads and railways across most of the country. Three people have died so far.
More than 50 people have been stranded on a train in Montenegro's north for more than two days as emergency crews struggle to rescue them.
In the mountain town of Zabljak in Montenegro's north, snow was 2.3 metres deep, while authorities have banned all private traffic in the capital Podgorica, where snow is almost a metre (three feet) deep and more is forecast on Sunday.
In Serbia, which declared a state of emergency last week, 19 people have died in the cold snap so far. Economists said damage from the cold weather may cost the country more than 500 million euros ($660 million).
More than 2,000 industrial businesses have been idled to limit the strain on coal-fired power plants and hydropower plants, which were struggling because of the buildup of ice.
The government also ordered the closure of all schools and non-essential businesses until Feb. 20.
Port authorities for Serbian sections of the Danube, Sava and Tisa rivers halted navigation due to a heavy buildup of ice.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff.
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climate change is the answer. been going on for billions of years, unless you think the earth is 6500 years old and then it has been going on for 6500 years.
More than 500 people have died in the past two weeks across Europe as temperatures plummeted in many regions close to minus 40 Celsius....
Europe is really getting hammered ....
Stay strong , do what you can to help your neighbors ....
Condolences and prayers go to victims' families and friends.
Al Gore was right, it's global warming. BS
Warmest winter in MN. Maldives about to go underwater.
Whoever termed climate change as "global warming" should have foreseen how the choice would mislead the simple-minded -- or maybe they did and that's why they went with it. We'll never know. Once again, folks, climate change (or global warming) does not mean that scientists think it will get warmer everywhere at the same rate or that there will be no more problems with extreme cold. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Scientists are warning of an average warming of the planet -- average being the key word. You get an average by adding together a large number of temperature readings from around the world and dividing by the number of readings -- pretty basic math there. Within this context of rising average temperatures are wild (and getting wilder) swings between the extremes. In other words, hots are getting hotter, colds are getting colder and areas around the world are experiencing weather like they never/rarely have before. I can tell you, it has been disturbingly mild this winter where I live -- but that does not mean other areas couldn't or shouldn't experience worse than usual.
Now, if you want to make disparaging comments or deny the theory as it actually is, that is fine. Feel free to elucidate your argument. But enough with the simple-minded "global warming can't be real 'cause somewhere they're having a really bad blizzard" nonsense.
Cyclical changes in the weather have been associated with the Maunder Minimum and the approximate 11 year cycle of solar phenomena... which is now just beginning to ramp up with increased sunspot activity. With a moderate El Nina in the Pacific, it is interesting that this winter has been relatively mild in the continental United States and much more pronounced in Europe and in western Asia. Additionally, a larger than average ice melt within the Artic Circle has put more moisture into the circumpolar atmospheric currents which ultimately affect the European landmass. It could translate to a cooler and later spring for many people this year.
Peace
This Global warming is Hell.....
Cuddle alert
Ive been near an Avalanche when its let loose, and there's no way you can fully appreciate the forces involved, unless you are there to feel it. Tons of material don't slide down a mountain without you feeling it.
Condolences to the families of the victims
I agree...anyone nearby is humbled...we are but specks...
hopefully, that little girl will have family or friends to look after her!
Prayers to families who have lost loved ones. It's the US fault, we need to send aide. After all the US has never had 500 die from weather related events. Oh wait the tonados last summer, katrina, and other events that kill more than 500 in any given year. And of course Europe is always right on the spot to help us out huh? Nope didn't think so......
Avalanches have been happening since the first snowflake. I'm not saying climate change doesn't happen, I'm just saying that blaming this avalanche on anything but a build up of snow is out there. It's a rough winter in Europe. We've had a mild winter in Ohio. Alaska has had a terrible winter this year. Last year, it was relatively "mild" (for Alaska). No one can accurately predict the weather. Kosovo is known for it's winter weather and snow build up (hence a round of Winter Olympics in the past.)
This all being said and done, condolences to the families of the lost. I hope those who were injured recover quickly. My thoughts are with them.
Mild weather here, severe cold there, weather is a global phenomenon. Climatologists are engaged in an effort to ascribe all manner of weather extremes to humankind. There is no doubt that 7 billion people have an impact but evidence of fluctuations in the global mean temperature are evident in the geologic record throughout Earth's existence. We have an influence and it makes sense to try to limit our impact but expecting that we can somehow control cyclic fluctuations is pure folly. Limit where we can do so reasonably but also prepare for the inevitable fluctuations whether they be increased or decreased mean global temperatures. My condolences to the families that lost loved ones in this avalanche and hope the weather moderates soon across the area.
Condolences to those families. Yes, we are specks in this world that was not created by us. As for global warming. Is it really a fact. Al Gore came up with this. Scientists have varying opinions on this. But they do say that deforestation, pollution and overpopulation may have an effect on weather and disasters. Critical times hard to deal with, will be here.
Let's hope that this is a quirk caused by la nina because the other option is not so good. According to Woods, it all depends upon the amount of fresh water entering the North Atlantic. Too much fresh water from melt in Greenland and Europe could shut down the current coming up from the coast of Africa. This then would bring these kinds of winters every year to Europe and maybe Eastern Canada. Unfortunately, we probably won't know if this is true until it happens. Europe would fall into a mini ice age maybe lasting 300 -1,000 years. Just be glad you are living in the U.S.