Moscow's homeless are fleeing the capital to get away from the stifling heat and choking smog, officials said on Wednesday.
Almost every Muscovite who could fled the capital over the past fortnight to escape acrid smog from nearby raging peat and forest fires.
"The homeless, like all of us, try to leave Moscow when it is too hot on the street and it smells of smoke," said Andrei Pentyukhov, the Moscow city official in charge of homeless programs.
Last Friday was the worst day yet, but the smog abated on Tuesday, with the city's remaining residents gazing in wonder at the blue skies overhead - a sight they had not seen for easily a week.
Central Russia has been beset by a record-breaking heat wave since mid-June, which has been exacerbated by the worst drought since the 1970s.
The heat wave looks set for yet another week as temperatures in Moscow are forecast to reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) at the weekend.
MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti)
