Blizzards blanket southern Balkans; states of emergency in Athens, Bulgaria

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Blizzards closed roads and disrupted air traffic in the southern Balkans on Saturday, prompting Greece and Bulgaria to declare states of emergency in certain areas, Turkey to shelter homeless in jails and Romania to dynamite river ice.

Albania's army delivered flour and cooking oil to northeastern villages cut off by snow.

On the Turkey-Bulgaria border, an illegal immigrant trying to sneak into Bulgaria was found frozen to death Saturday. It was the fourth death from exposure since Thursday, when temperatures dropped to minus 4.

In Greece, the heaviest snowfall in a decade blanketed Athens with 6 inches, trapping hundreds of motorists for nearly 20 hours on the main highway to Thessaloniki and causing officials to declare a state of emergency in the capital. Police, firefighters and army troops worked to clear jackknifed trucks from the road.

About 2 feet of snow fell in Athens' northern suburbs.

The Athens airport temporarily closed while snow plows cleared runways and crews deiced aircraft. Highways around the airport also were blocked by heavy snow.

Flights resumed later Saturday.

More than 100 towns in central Greece were cut off by snow and the region also suffered sporadic power outages. Athens-area hospitals were on heightened alert.

"These are the worst conditions in some 40 years," Greek Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis said.

Bulgaria declared a state of emergency in the Dulovo district near the northern city of Silistra, where traffic was paralyzed by snowdrifts reaching 5 feet.

In Turkey, 4-6 inches fell in Ankara and Istanbul, and about 16 inches were recorded in more mountainous regions.

"Turkey, I believe, has not seen snow as heavy as this for many years," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said.

The snow forced Turkey's national carrier, Turkish Airlines, to suspend several flights out of Istanbul Saturday morning.

Many of Istanbul's main roads were cleared by Saturday, a day after a blizzard brought the city to a standstill. But several highways remained closed and villages, most of them in eastern Turkey, were cut off by snow.

Paramilitary police were dispatched to a highway near Istanbul overnight to rescue hundreds of stranded people and give them bread and water.

The Interior Ministry ordered governors and municipalities to ensure that no one was left out in the cold.

Police in Ankara and Istanbul scoured streets for homeless people, taking children to orphanages and the elderly to police stations.

Forecasters said the snowfall would ease by late Sunday.

In Romania, river ice had cut off water to several cities in the Transylvania region. Authorities also rescued more than 300 motorists stranded by snow on major highways.

The snow closed down four regional airports, left 34 towns without electricity temporarily and cut off dozens of villages.

Albania's Defense Ministry said the army was using trucks and helicopters to make deliveries. Frozen pipes also cut off the water supply to several villages.