Snow and ice kill children in Moscow

Two children suffered serious injuries in Moscow because of lumps of snow and ice falling from roofs.

A 12-month baby girl was hospitalized with brain concussion and a cranial injury in Moscow yesterday. The girl's mother was walking with a stroller along Flotskaya Street in the north of Moscow, when a big and solid piece of snow slid from the roof and landed on the stroller, Interfax reports.

"I heard the sound of ruptured fabric. At first I thought that it was something with the fabric of the stroller," the woman said. The icicle pierced through the cape of the stroller and hit the child in the head.

A similar accident took place in the north-east of Moscow, where a piece of ice fell on the head of a two-year-old boy. The child was hospitalized with brain concussion.

On January 10, a piece of ice landed on the stroller with a newborn baby. The little boy had his right parietal bone fractured.

Moscow authorities deny any responsibility for the accidents with the children. According to them, it was not snow and ice, but other circumstances that led to the injuries, RIA Novosti reports. The accidents occurred because of mothers' negligence, officials claimed.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin demanded housing services should activate the works to clean the roofs in the city from snow, ice and icicles.

"The work is being conducted poorly. It goes about both commercial organizations, and objects of social infrastructure, as well as federal objects, municipal, educational, healthcare and cultural institutions," the mayor said.

Snow and ice kills people in other cities of Russia too.

Five people were injured and one killed after the roof of the building of a construction company collapsed in Novosibirsk. The roof collapsed over heavy snow.

In Kazan, a similar accident occurred on the territory of the warehouse of Tatstroy company. A man was staying in the warehouse when the roof of the building collapsed under the weight of snow and ice. The man, born in 1960, died on the scene.

The roof of Hospital No. 1 in the town of Belovo, the Kemerovo region, also collapsed under the weight of snow. The area of about 600 m2 of the hospital was damaged in the accident. There were 109 people staying at the hospital, but no one suffered.

On January 25, the roof of Okay hypermarket in St. Petersburg collapsed, killing a salesperson. Fourteen other people, including store employees and customers, were injured, nine of them were hospitalized. The roof collapsed because of defective load carrying structures which could not stand the weight of the snow.