Mon 29 Jul
Red hot Moscow
Don't drink and dive

MOSCOW - In the past two weeks the city has seen temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) every day, and this month could be the hottest July since records began in 1870.

Five people drowned in Moscow at the weekend as they jumped into rivers and lakes in an attempt to cool off in an ongoing heat wave, the city's emergency services said Monday.

The report, carried by the Interfax news agency, took the total recorded number of such deaths to 188 since this year's spate of hot weather began. Most of the accidents involve drunks. Last year more than 300 people died in similar circumstances in the Moscow region.