Nation & World

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia's government declared a state of emergency in its capital Saturday after Sarajevo was paralyzed by snow, and hundreds of people remained trapped in their homes and vehicles throughout the country.

After a weeklong cold snap that has killed scores of people across Eastern Europe, more than 3 feet of snow fell in Sarajevo on Saturday, closing roads and public transportation.

Some neighborhoods reported water shortages, and residents struggled to make it to local shops to shore up on food. Several people said they witnessed fist fights in shops over loaves of bread.

Schools have been closed in Bosnia for days because of the tough winter weather, and many travelers have been trapped on the country's roads since Friday evening.

"This is unbelievable. I can't remember snow like this in the past 30 years, said Mirsada Mitrovic, a resident of Sarajevo. "Maybe when I was a child, but since then nothing like this."

Schools closed

The state of emergency order said all schools must remain closed in Sarajevo, that women and children should stay at home, and that men should only report to work if their jobs are essential. It also ordered men who own shovels or vehicles big enough to plow snow to help the city clear the streets, especially ones leading to hospitals.

Meanwhile, efforts were under way to rescue hundreds of people trapped on snow-covered highways.

For example, in a tunnel south of Sarajevo, vehicles carrying about 30 people were stuck in a tunnel and called local radio stations to appeal for help, saying they had children with them and were running out of fuel. But when snow plows arrived on the scene, they also got stuck Saturday, officials said.

In neighboring Montenegro, a three-day snowstorm that has closed roads and the main airport in the capital, Podgorica, claimed its first victim: a 54-year-old man who died when an avalanche hit his car on a road near the town of Kolasin.

Officials in Serbia said around 60,000 people throughout the country remain cut off by the snow. Seven people have died so far and one is missing, while 23 people have been rescued in the past 24 hours, said Serbian emergency police official Predrag Maric.

Emergency measures

In Croatia, authorities in a strip along the Adriatic coast declared emergency measures and urged the army's help in clearing up the snow, which is otherwise very rare in the area. Croatian authorities said three people have died in the freeze.

But the brutal winter weather didn't stop everyone.

The weeklong cold snap — Eastern Europe's worst in decades — has killed at least 176 people, many of them homeless people, especially in countries such as Ukraine.

On Saturday, Ukraine's Emergency Ministry said 122 people have died there over the past eight days, including 78 homeless people found on city streets. Nearly 1,600 other residents have been hospitalized with hypothermia and frostbite. Snow and temperatures hovering around 3 degrees Fahrenheit prompted authorities to close schools and colleges, and to cancel bus services.

In Austria, temperatures in the western city of Salzburg hovered around 7 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, and a technical problem at a power plant left 10,000 households without heating on Saturday, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Germany recorded the coldest night of the year, with the thermometer plunging to -16 Fahrenheit in the southern town of Oberstdorf, according to the German Weather Service.

Rare snowfalls

The tough winter weather also has hit cities in southern Europe such as Rome, where snowfalls are rare.

Romans bewildered by their city's first big snowfall in 26 years used government-issued shovels to clear sidewalks, and kitchen utensils to clear windshields Saturday.

The snow — up to 8 inches deep in some neighborhoods — made buses and taxis scarce. It also shut down tourist sites including the Colosseum, where the tiers which once held cheering spectators for gladiator fights where hidden by snow.

Snow blanketed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and crowned the ancient arches in the Roman Forum, but its weight toppled trees, sending some of them crashing onto empty parked cars.

Saturday's storm, coming a day after a light snowfall, combined for the biggest accumulations since 1986, and left many motorists stranded for hours on the city's streets.

Volunteers for the national Civil Protection agency handed out 4,000 shovels in several main piazzas to Romans trying to clear their streets of snow and slush before a forecast nighttime freeze.

Rome's mayor extended the shutdown of schools through Monday and said city offices would also be closed Monday.

In the Circus Maximus, the sprawling, sloping grounds where chariot races were once held, Romans and tourists tossed snowballs.

Rome struggles

While the city struggled with the unusually cold and snowy weather, Italians to the north continued to dig out from up more than 6 feet of snow and shiver in frigid temperatures.

The farm lobby Coldiretti said that 2 million cows and pigs were at risk because supplies of feed couldn't reach them and some frozen pipes for water troughs had burst.

It estimated about $65 million in losses already to crops, including artichokes, cabbages and radicchio, and warned that olive trees and grape vines would sustain significant damage. Olive oil and wine production are two mainstays of Italian agriculture.