LUCKNOW, Dec 29: A cold spell gripping northern India killed 29 people in the 24 hours to midday on Monday, officials said, as authorities set up shelters, handed out blankets and lit bonfires to help the homeless.

The cold has killed 53 people since it began three days ago, while thick fog accompanying the chill has grounded flights and delayed trains across the region, stranding thousands of travellers.

Temperatures dipped to six degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, early on Monday, and 26 people died there late on Sunday and early on Monday because of the cold, officials said.

In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh’s eastern neighbour, three people had died since Sunday, authorities said.

State schools in Bihar had been opened up at night as shelters for the homeless while in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh capital, authorities lit bonfires for thousands of people living on the streets.

“We are also distributing blankets to the poor, especially labourers who live on pavements,” said state official Navneet Sehgal.

Average night-time temperatures have fallen by more than 10C (18F) Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) since the weekend in Uttar Pradesh as heavy snow fell across the Himalayan mountains that form its northern border.

Weather officials said the cold and fog would continue for most of the week across the north of the country.

Though most of northern India never sees the freezing weather conditions of, for example, northern Europe or North America, dozens of homeless people die from exposure every year as they have little in the way of warm clothes and bedding.—Reuters