QUETTA, Jan 3: Cold weather has claimed four more lives in Quetta and Musakhel areas, officials said here on Monday.

A group of 11 people going to Musakhel on Sunday by foot as the road was blocked by snow when three of them - Malik Khan, Alam and Abdul Baqi - died of cold and four of them fell unconscious.

The bodies and the injured were taken to the Musakhel Civil Hospital. Another person, a drug addict was found dead in the provincial capital. At least 10 people have died in Balochistan due to severe cold during the last four days.

The provincial capital, Kalat, Ziarat, Kan Mehtarzai, Muslim Bagh, Khanozai, Chaman, Pishin and Toba Kakari are still in the grip of severe cold. The maximum temperature in Quetta increased on Monday to 7.2 degrees Celsius and sun shined throughout the day but the minimum temperature remained -3.5 degrees Celsius.