Storm leaves 7,500 without power in south Russia

A hurricane in southern Russia has left 7,500 people without electricity and injured 74, Russia's emergencies situation ministry said Wednesday as cold weather continued to grip Eastern Europe.

High winds on Tuesday broke powerlines in the Black Sea city of Novorossiysk and three small villages, leaving 7,500 people without power amid temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celcius, the ministry's Krasnodar region branch said.

Seventy four people had to seek medical attention, the ministry said in a statement.

An abnormally cold wave sweeping across Central and Eastern Europe over the past week has already lead to dozens of deaths, particularly in the Ukraine, Poland, and Romania.

In Russia, temperatures ranged Wednesday morning from minus 22 degrees Celcius in Moscow to minus 33 degrees Celcius in the Siberian region of Yakutia.

The death toll brought on by the cold stood at 64 people across the country, according to the health ministry.