Severe Winter Still Gripping Mongolia

An unusually severe winter is keeping its grip on Mongolia. Hardest hit are nomadic herders who have already suffered a summer drought.

It's a bleak scene, one that's become common in Mongolia this winter.

More than a million livestock have died due to extreme cold.

Temperatures have dipped to below minus 40 degrees Celsius in most of the country.

That's well below habitual winter temperatures.

The Red Cross say the cold could leave 200,000 people hungry.

[Francis Markus, East Asia Red Cross Communications Official]:
"Many of the herder families, especially the poorest, those with herds of fewer than 200 livestock, may face a situation where they simply don't have enough animals left to make their livelihoods sustainable."

Frostbite presents a serious health risk for Mongolia's nomadic herders.

So does the threat of infection from the rotting carcasses that litter the fields.

Heavy snow has frozen into ice on many roads, making travel by car impossible.

Walking is not much easier.

The disaster has led to a mass migration into the capital Ulan Bator.

Many now live in tent "shanty towns," with little prospects of employment.

With Spring still three months away, there appears no respite on the horizon for these desperate people.