28 die in Moscow Heatwave *

POSTED: 1145 GMT (1945 HKT), May 30, 2007

MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- Twenty-eight people, many of them drunk,
have drowned in the Russian capital this month as Muscovites cool off
from a record heatwave in ponds, fountains and canals, rescue services
said on Wednesday.

"The main reason for the deaths is that people bathe in places were they
are not supposed to ... but at the same time 75 percent of them are not
sober," said Vladimir Plyasunov, the head of Moscow's lifeguards.

"Because of the unusually high temperatures all our lifeguards have been
put on high alert," Plyasunov told the Vesti-24 news channel.

Moscow has been sweltering this week in temperatures above 30 degrees
Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). Meteorologists said Monday was the hottest May
day in the city since records began.

The electricity system has shifted into emergency mode to cope with
soaring demand, largely from people using air conditioning, and outages
due to sub-stations overheating.

An employee in one Moscow company said building managers had been going
round offices on Tuesday ordering staff to turn off lights to save energy.