Moscow currently has especially high levels of air pollution as a summer heat wave and a lack of wind are causing toxic automobile emissions to build up, a high-ranking emergency official said, adding that the smog was not from forest fires.
Last week authorities warned that wind could blow smoke from nearby forest fires into the city, causing a repeat of the summer of 2010's onslaught of smog, which doubled the city's mortality rate.
On Saturday the deputy head of the Emergency Situations Ministry, Vladimir Stepanov, told Interfax that in fact, a lack of wind is causing another danger: lingering traffic fumes.
He added that the current heat wave is expected to last for at least another two weeks.
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