KATMANDU, Jan 5: Near-freezing temperatures killed at least 17 people over the weekend in this Himalayan nation, police said on Monday.

The new deaths raise the toll from a two-week-old cold snap in Nepal to at least 50 people, police said. Police said that most of the deaths were reported in impoverished areas in southern Nepal along the border with India, where most people cannot afford warm clothes. They said most were either elderly people or young children.

Temperature in these areas have dropped to 3 degrees Celsius. Six people died in the Mahottari district, about 160 kilometres southeast of Kathmandu, which is one of the hardest hit districts. Traffic and flights to southern Nepal have also been disrupted because of the cold weather.-APP