Smog and Heat Double Death Rate in Moscow

Deaths in Moscow have doubled to an average of 700 people a day as the Russian capital is engulfed by poisonous smog from wildfires and a sweltering heat wave, a top health official said Monday.

Moscow health chief Andrei Seltsovky blamed weeks of unprecedented heat and suffocating smog for the rise in mortality compared to the same time last year, Russian news agencies reported. He said city morgues were nearly overflowing, filled with 1,300 bodies, close to their capacity, The Associated Press says.

Emergency situations minister Sergei Shoigu promised that peat bog fires around Moscow woud be put out in a week.

"Moscow, Muscovites, 11 million are so tired of this smoke, of this smog so we all need to join forces," he said in televised remarks, AFP informs.