Minister urges Poles to help vulnerable during freezing weather
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
07.01.2017 17:25
A government minister has appealed to Poles to step in if they see someone who may be at risk of freezing in order to stop more hypothermia deaths.
Iced-over promende in Ełk, north-eastern Poland. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk
As an Arctic chill hit the country, the authorities said on Saturday morning that seven people in Poland had died of hypothermia in the last 24 hours.
Family, Labour and Social Policy Minister Elżbieta Rafalska urged Poles not to remain indifferent.
She told the PAP news agency: "The winter has turned dangerously cold. All services are fully mobilized - social welfare, homeless shelters, places where people can warm up, the police, the municipal police.”
She added: “We are all aware of this danger, but I believe that it’s not just up to institutions and that... greater sensitivity and a quick reaction is needed, because human lives may depend on that.”
The Government Security Centre has appealed to the public to inform the authorities if they see homeless people sleeping rough who could be at risk of hypothermia.
The northeastern town of Suwałki on Saturday morning saw the mercury plunge to minus 27.2 degrees Celsius, believed to be the lowest temperature in Poland so far this winter, Polish Radio reported.
Temperatures well below freezing are also expected over the coming days.
(pk)
Source: PAP