A bitterly cold winter in northern India killed 43 people overnight, raising the toll from near-freezing temperatures sweeping the region since Christmas to 189, officials said on Thursday.

Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal, and adjoining districts were the coldest, with heavy fog and an icy breeze during the day. The temperature dipped to three degrees Celsius (37 Farenheit) at night.

Day temperatures were 10 degrees Celsius below normal in most parts of the Uttar Pradesh state, officials said.

Weather officials said the cold snap would continue for another few days, putting at risk poor and homeless people, who depend on government agencies for relief.

"The administration is doing its best to ensure whatever respite is possible within our means. Beyond that we have to depend on God's mercy," Ambika Chaudhary, revenue minister of Uttar Pradesh, told Reuters.

The cold spell, accompanied by heavy fog, has disrupted rail and air traffic and sent thousands of homeless to huddle around public bonfires.

Winter temperatures in most parts of northern India are not as extreme as the freezing weather in, for example, North America or northern Europe, but many homeless people die every year because they do not have warm clothes or blankets.

Chaudhary said the state government would give 50,000 rupees ($1,088) to the families of poor people killed by the cold.

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