Snow blast kills 5 in South Europe

ATHENS, Greece -- Five people have died in icy conditions in southeastern Europe as Greece and Bulgaria declare states of emergency in certain areas.

The Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has described the severe snow storms as the worst in 40 years to hit his country.

He urged residents on Saturday to stay at home rather than venture out and 100s of villages have become cut off.

He said: "I would like to call on all citizens to be careful and limit their movements.

"This is an unusual phenomenon and beautiful to watch but also dangerous."

Greek police found the body of an elderly woman partly covered by snow who had apparently died from the cold in a suburb of the capital, Athens.

It was the second day in a row that roads had been blocked and flights cancelled.

Troops and emergency services attempted to clear roads in central and southern parts of Greece.

Key roads became blocked around Athens after up to 60 centimetres of snow fell on the outskirts of the Greek capital forcing hundreds of car passengers to spend about 20 hours trapped in their vehicles.

Snow chains were needed on vehicles attempting to drive in the city centre.

More than 100 towns in central Greece were cut off by snow and the region was also affected by sporadic power shortages.

Athens' international airport was closed and snow ploughs worked to clear runways. Airport officials said they expected flights to resume during Saturday.

Roads leading to the airport were also blocked by heavy snow. The worst affected areas were in the north of the capital.

Hospitals in the Athens area were placed in a state of heightened readiness to deal with any problems.

The snowfall and subfreezing temperatures were part of a rare winter storm affecting many parts of the southern Balkans.

Four people froze to death in Turkey and seven were missing as heavy snowfall paralysed the country for a second consecutive day, Turkish television said on Saturday.

Thousands of villages had become isolated because of the worst snow in years. In northern Bulgaria, a state of emergency was called in three municipalities where roads were blocked and power cuts left numerous towns and villages without electricity, civil defence officials said.

Ten people had been reported frozen to death in Moscow on Thursday.

The freeze is expected to thaw on Sunday, Greece's National Weather Service forecast.