Putin appeal on Russia drownings

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- President Vladimir Putin has called for "urgent" action after the number of Russians drowning in the country's heatwave topped the 240 mark in Moscow alone.

Putin was moved to intervene after 32 more drowned at the weekend in Moscow rivers and lakes during the hottest weather in 100 years.

The president called for "urgent steps" to curb the current wave of drownings across Russia which have tripled since the end of the Soviet Union.

Ministers should "pay more attention to the safety of our people," he declared, saying it was a national problem.

RESOURCES Latest weather in Moscow

CNN's Jill Dougherty says that 70 percent of drowning deaths are caused by drinking. Another reason is that fewer Russians than ever have learned how to swim.

Meanwhile Russia's underfunded water rescue service, its chairman says, is on the verge of disbanding.

The problem of drunkenness has been exacerbated by people bathing in known danger spots, whose waters conceal logs, metal rods and other debris hazardous to the swimmer.

Russian television has been showing cautionary footage of crowds of youngsters people drinking beer and vodka on rubbish-strewn beaches alongside signs prohibiting swimming.

CNN's Dougherty reported from Cabbage Pond in Moscow's northern suburbs where fishing is allowed but swimming is forbidden.

She told how Boris and friend Igor waded into the murky waters during a night of drinking -- only for Boris to see his friend disappear.

"Igor wanted to pick a lily over there near the island... that's the place where he began to scream," Boris said.

Because divers were busy with other drownings, it took until the next afternoon to retrieve Igor's body, covered with weeds.

"They're mostly drug addicts," local fishermen told Dougherty. "Or drunks. A normal man wouldn't drown like that."

Igor Elkis, chief doctor with Moscow's ambulance service, told Reuters: "Most of those who drown are in an inebriated state. Most are young people who lose control in the state of drunkenness.

"Usually it is a drunk group which forgets about someone and would not notice even if he cried for help."

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov last week urged revellers at a beer festival outside the heat-choked city's largest stadium not to mix lager with vodka -- a common practice for those wishing to cool off and get drunk quickly.

It was still 81 degrees in the Russian capital on Tuesday and temperatures are forecast to stay in the 80s all week. Doctors and meteorologists said the effect of the heat wave was magnified by temperatures remaining high overnight and the virtual absence of any wind.

Russian RTR state television said guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just outside the Kremlin wall, had to change twice as often as usual because of the sweltering temperatures. It said their fellow soldiers were having to mop their foreheads every 10 minutes.

Across the border in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, temperatures stood even higher at about 95 Fahrenheit. The Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry said 538 people, including 95 children, had drowned in July.

Drowning occurs up to five times more often in Russia and other ex-Soviet republics than other European countries.

CNN's Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report