6 dead, including women and children, as northern Japan buried in heavy snow

In eastern Hokkaido’s town of Nakashibetsu, a 40-year-old womanand her three teenage children were poisoned by car exhaust astheir stopped vehicle was buried under a heavy layer of snow. Thefamily kept the car’s engine running while the exhaust pipe wasblocked with snow. It took two hours for rescuers to get to thecar.
In the same town, a 23-year-old woman froze to death aftergetting lost about 300 meters from her car.
In Yubetsu, northwest of Nakashibetsu, a 53-year-old man savedhis 9-year-old daughter at the expense of his own life. After theirtruck got stuck, the man and his daughter tried to get to a safeplace on foot, but got lost in heavy snow. The farther was coveringhis daughter with his body when they were found. The man waspronounced dead in a hospital; the girl was only lightlyinjured.
This winter has reportedly brought twice as much snow as usual.Recent snowfall has added more than two meters of snow toaccumulations that are already several-meters-thick in some places,Kyodo News reported. Many houses were completely buried, with snowover their rooftops.
Gusts of wind reached speeds of over 37 meters per second (135kph) on Saturday. The hard weather conditions have caused a numberof traffic accidents.
The first carriage of the high-speed Komachi train derailed inAkita prefecture on Honshu Island because of snow. None of the 130passengers were seriously injured. The East Japan Railway companyhas suspended all high-speed train operations.

Russia’s Far East region has also been hit hard by the powerfulsnow cyclone currently ravaging Japan. The storm wind has left 12settlements – over 120,000 people – without electricity. Residentshave been advised to stay at home and not leave their houses exceptin an emergency.
All bulldozers and snowplows are busy clearing the roadsstretching from Sakhalin Island's main city of Yuzno-Sakhalinsk tothe cities of Korsakov and Dolinsk. The local airport has beenclosed, and ferry service has been suspended between Vanino port onthe mainland and Kholmsk port on Sakhalin Island.
The cyclone has also hit the southern areas of Russia’sKamchatka peninsula, bringing winds of up to 45 meters per second.The local avalanche monitoring center has warned of avalanchedanger around the mountains and famous Kamchatka volcanoes.
The cyclone is currently moving away from Sakhalin Island,towards the Kuril Islands.