At Least 12 Die as Bitter Cold, Snow Hit

Freak snowstorms and bitter cold struck most of northern Mexico, leaving at least 12 dead and paralyzing highways and ports, media reports said. A cold spell that some experts linked to the El Nino weather pattern brought historic snowfalls to cities as far south as Guadalajara. It snowed in the city for the first time since 1881, radio reports there said. High winds cleared the polluted skies over Mexico City for the first time in weeks while inhabitants of the northern industrial capital of Monterrey awoke to their first snowfall in 30 years, La Jornada newspaper reported. Two elderly men were found frozen to death in the main square of Saltillo in northern Coahuila state, where emergency centers were sheltering about 450 families. Other deaths, some from carbon monoxide asphyxiation due to poor heating systems, were recorded in states nationwide, and icy roads caused more than 300 car crashes.