Moscow motorway misery as gridlock endangers lives

Thousands of trucks and cars are once again stuck in a crippling traffic jam on the M-10 motorway linking Moscow to St Petersburg. The tailback began on Friday due to bad weather and stretched as far as 140 kilometres. Authorities say the road began to clear until a truck broke down. The traffic jam is now some 40 kilometres long: “We were stuck back there and there was a car with three little kids in the back. We gave them some bread they were so hungry they ate it as though it were chocolate,” said one irate trucker. Thousands of drivers have been stuck without supplies for hours in temperatures of well below freezing. The Russian government has admitted the country’s road network is not fit for purpose. To add to the misery weather forecasts suggest more snow is on the way.