Thousands of vehicles have been stuck, some for more than two days, in a traffic jam dozens of kilometres long caused by heavy snow northwest of Moscow, Russian media have reported.
Police in the Tver region said field kitchens were operating on the road, but many drivers complained supplies never reached them and they were running out of petrol to keep their engines running and heating on in subzero temperatures.
“Drivers help one another and that’s it, the problems are on the side of the authorities,” a truck driver who identified himself as Sergei told Rossiya 24 TV channel. “There are no fuel tankers, no water, nothing – we are just stuck here.”
Another man told the state broadcaster he had advanced one kilometre over the previous 24 hours.
Reports put the length of the traffic jam at different times yesterday at between 40km and 200km. “The reach of the traffic jam at present is no longer than 55 km and is gradually falling,” Interfax news agency quoted a police official as saying.
The M10 highway links Moscow with Russia’s second-largest city St Petersburg, some 700km northwest from the capital, and stretches further to the border with Finland.
Russia’s infrastructure has been plagued with problems since the Soviet era, when defence spending was high at the expense of roads, housing, healthcare and other civilian needs. – (Reuters)