Cold kills 46 children in Peru

AFP, Lima
At least 46 children died as extreme cold blanketed more than half of Peru, hitting 158,000 persons, Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez said as he announced $745,000 in UN aid.

The cold wave, which came in June, has affected much of Peru's Andes mountains, where people live above 4,000 metres and where temperatures have reached minus 25 degree Celsius.

Children have largely succumbed to pneumonia. Cold has damaged 300,000 hectares of crops and killed 105,000 farm animals.