Snowstorm kills four in Turkey

The frozen body of Mehmet Aksit was found near the small town of Akkışla in central Kayseri province after relatives reported the 78-year-old missing.

On Saturday the frozen body of Nuri Turhan, an 81-year-old Korean War veteran with Alzheimer's disease, was found in a mountainous region of Turkey's Aydın province, where he got lost the day before, Turkish newspapers reported.

A 75-year-old man also died after suffering from hypothermia in the northwestern Turkish province of Tekirdağ.

The snowstorm that began overnight Friday to Saturday also hit parts of Bulgaria, where a man suffering a heart attack died in the country's northeastern region of Silistra, when the ambulance he was in was stalled by snow.

The snowstorm led to power, gas and water cuts in Istanbul. In Turkey's western region, near the Greek and Bulgarian borders, villages and major roads were blocked by snow.

A bus also flipped over in an Istanbul suburb, injuring 10 people, Anatolia news agency said.

Bulgarian authorities urged people to avoid travel. Heavy snow in the east of Bulgaria left dozens of cars and trucks stranded and a train trapped near the border with Romania.

Snowfall was expected to continue until Monday evening and could reach 35 centimeters (14 inches) in some areas of Istanbul, according to the city's natural disaster coordination centre.

/Hurrriyet Daily News/