Monday, December 19 2005 13:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The bitter cold continued to afflict northern India, taking the death toll to 38 yesterday (Dec 18, 2005) as six persons, including a Thai tourist, perished in Uttar Pradesh and the thickening fog snarled road traffic and delayed trains in the region.

A 64-year-old woman tourist from Thailand, Amphong Chang, died at the guesthouse of a Thai temple in Varanasi due to the intense cold.

Two persons died in Mahoba and one each in Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Deoria districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Churu in Rajasthan recorded an overnight low of minus 0.4 degrees Celsius (8 below normal) as icy winds pummeled the state for the third successive week.

The meteorological office said the minimum temperature hovered between 2-4 degrees below the normal average in most parts of the region and the thickening fog reduced visibility, affecting movement of road and rail traffic.

Phagwara, Amritsar, Adampur, Sirsa, Bathinda and Ambala were engulfed by fog in the morning and at least five vehicles collided on Phagwara-Banga road, police said.

Trains plying on the Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Jammu routes ran behind schedule due to poor visibility, Temperatures continued to hover below the normal average with Srinagar recording a low of minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, Jalandhar 0.4 and Chandigarh 3.8 (3 below normal), Amritsar shivered 1.0, Ludhiana, Ambala 4.8, Karnal 5.0 and Hisar 5.9 Bhuntar and Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh recorded minus 0.7 and 0.2 C respectively but its capital Shimla was better off at 7.2 (3 above normal).