Icy rain shuts down Moscow's largest airport

MOSCOW—Icy rain shut down Moscow's largest airport for nearly 15 hours Sunday, coated roads with ice and left more than 200,000 people and 14 hospitals without electricity in winter.

The rain struck the city Saturday night. Workers were scrambling to restore the power supply after heavy ice snapped power lines, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Moscow's major airport Domodedovo shut down Sunday morning after the power supply was cut off. No planes were allowed to land or take off for some 15 hours before the airport allowed outbound flights, opening check-in for two dozen domestic destinations. The full power supply had not yet been restored.

Moscow's other two major airports, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, remained open but experienced delays.

Moscow motorists woke up Sunday to find their cars covered with 2.5 centimetres of ice. Power lines across the region, loaded down with ice, snapped if touched by a tree branch, causing disruption to public transport and suburban trains.

A top official urged Moscow residents not to risk walking on the icy streets and to stay indoors.

Unlike the rest of Europe, Moscow had no airport delays or major road accidents last week due to winter weather.

- The Associated Press