Reuters-Thousands Feared Dead From Moscow's Heat Wave

Moscow's Red Square choked in fog: Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters

(Story reported by Dmitry Solovyov for Reuters News)

(Reuters) - Several thousand Muscovites are thought to have died in July alone from this year's unprecedented heatwave and August could add more fatalities, a Russian scientist said on Tuesday.

Moscow, a metropolis of over 10 million people, has suffered intense heat since late June, with day temperatures sometimes nearing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The crisis shriveled a third of Russia's grain crop, shaved billions off this year's economic growth and killed at least 54 people in wildfires. The heat subsided on Tuesday.

Citing a report by the Moscow Registry Office, Boris Revich, a senior demography and ecology researcher at Russia's Academy of Sciences, said 5,840 more Muscovites had died in July than in the same month last year.

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