Daily Times

Eight herders have been killed in central Mongolia due to snow storms, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency said Monday.

One male, six female herders, and a 12-year-old boy from the central provinces of Tuv and Uvurkhangai lost their lives while looking after their herd in the snow storms that hit large parts of the country over the weekend, the agency said in a statement. Since Friday evening, snow and blizzards have caused icy roads and poor road visibility.

The hardest-hit central Mongolia has been covered by a layer of snow up to 34 cm thick, according to the country’s National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring.

Snow and blizzards are expected to continue in the central and western regions in the coming days. The weather monitoring agency urged the public, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.

Mongolia’s climate is strongly continental with long, frigid winters and short, warm summers. A temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius is normal during winter in Mongolia where the peak flu season runs from December to February.