Five more people died of hypothermia in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday as a cold wave tightened its grip across the entire region, the Press Trust of India said.
The deaths occurred in the towns of Hamirpur, Ghazipur and Jhansi, it said.
The latest casualties took to 39 the number of cold related deaths in Uttar Pradesh in the past 10 days.
Temperatures dropped to freezing point in the higher reaches of the state in the coldest weather to hit the area in several years.
Most of the victims were homeless people, officials said, adding that all schools and colleges in Uttar Pradesh have been shut until January 9.
Weather reports warned of a prolonged cold spell across the eight northern Indian states and New Delhi, attributing it to heavy snowfall in the Himalayan region.
Mountainous Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir bear the brunt of the current cold wave, which has frozen water supplies and hit normal life for the past 10 days.
Temperatures have dipped to almost minus 22 degrees Celcius (minus four degrees Farenheit) in the Himachal Pradesh district of Lahaul and Spiti, which borders Tibet.
Chilly winds coupled with fog have hit life in Uttar Pradesh and disrupted domestic and international flights to and from New Delhi -- NEW DELHI (AFP)
