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Snowfall blocks roads between cities in Ural region

YEKATERINBURG, April 26 (Itar-Tass) - Traffic has been disrupted on roads in the Ural region because of heavy snow.

Traffic was halted on the road between Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, and the road between Yekaterinburg and Kurgan was closed for buses, with limited traffic for other vehicles.

The regional department of the Emergencies Ministry recommended drivers not to travel until the situation returned to normal.

The regional traffic police department reported on Saturday morning the situation on the Yekaterinburg-Tyumen road remained very tense.

Since Friday evening, April 25, transport traffic had been impossible on the road. The road between the 113th and 163rd km was closed to clear it of snow with special machines, the department's press service said. Military vehicles were also used in the work.

Traffic policemen asked not to travel toward Tyumen at all and also recommended not to drive cars on other roads and use alternative transport until the weather conditions returned to normal.

Four people were injured in a traffic accident in the Sverdlovsk Region (Ural) on Saturday morning because of the bad weather. A driver in a VAZ lost control of his car and on the other lane struck a Mitsubishi Lancer that collided with a Daewoo Nexia. The driver and three passengers from the VAZ with injuries were taken to a hospital in the city of Pervouralsk, the press service said.

The region's chief meteorologist Galina Sheporenko said precipitation that fell onto the Ural region over the day was equal to a month's level.

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