100,000 rail passengers stranded by Czech deep freeze

Around 100,000 passengers were stranded across the Czech Republic when ice encased overhead power lines and brought railway traffic to a halt, the state railways authority said Tuesday.

The big freeze struck on Monday, forcing some people to spend the night in unheated trains or at railway stations as temperatures plunged to a low of minus 7.3 Celsius (19.4 Fahrenheit). The cold continued to disrupt rail services into Tuesday.

"Several hundred passenger trains were cancelled or delayed," Czech Railways said on its website. It urged passengers to postpone their trips.

Trees toppled by heavy snow also caused power cuts nationwide and police reported dozens of road accidents caused by black ice.

Ice also grounded soldiers headed for Afghanistan when it prevented their plane from taking off from the Prague-Kbely military airport, but flights at Prague's main Vaclav Havel airport were not disrupted, authorities said.