Originally published Monday, August 9, 2010 at 5:33 AM
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Report: wildfires cost Russia some $15 billion
A newspaper says the hundreds of wildfires that has swept western Russia has caused billions of dollars in damage.
The Associated Press
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ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO / AP
Tourists with face masks walk along Red Square in a thick blanket of smog, in Moscow, Russia, Monday. The Russian capital's chief health official reportedly says the number of deaths in Moscow is twice as high as usual because of smog suffocating the city from ongoing wildfires nearby.
LEV MASLOV / AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Residents of Moscow wear gas masks Monday to protect themselves from forest-fire smog. Smog from wildfires in the countryside cloaked Moscow, with the levels of toxic particles, raising alarm over public health.
MOSCOW —
A newspaper says the hundreds of wildfires that has swept western Russia has caused billions of dollars in damage.
The business daily Kommersant says in Tuesday's edition that the damage from the fires is expected to amount to about $15 billion - or about one percent of the country's gross domestic product. The government has yet to release any damage estimates.
The hottest summer since record-keeping began 130 years ago has cost Russia more than a third of its wheat crop and prompted the government to ban wheat exports for the rest of the year.
The acrid smog that has engulfed Moscow for a week eased a bit Tuesday, but the concentration of pollutants remained high. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin summoned Moscow's mayor to explain how the smog is being dealt with.
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