<p><br /> The scorching acrid smoke that has blanketed Moscow for several consecutive days has eased its grip on the city.<br /> </p><p><br /> People looked more cheerful but many still had face-masks on, as advised by officials who said the heat and smog from raging forest and peat fires had doubled the daily death rate in the city. People with cardio-vascular and respiratory problems would be more vulnerable to extreme weather and environmental conditions the officials said.<br /> </p><p><br /> "There is a spray which I carry with me. It helps my lungs to breath. Look at the fumes and everything is burning. I have no idea how the fire-fighters are coping there," Valery from Moscow said without removing a mask from his face.<br /> </p><p><br /> He also showed his red dotted arms and added he was sure the reason it was caused by intoxication: "Have a look at my arms, this is all caused by sweating. I am sweating all the time and I was prescribed an ointment to make these disappear. Actually this smog is the cause. It is really toxic."<br /> </p><p><br /> Firefighters are battling wildfires covering an area bigger than Greater London in what the chief state weather forecaster said he believed to be Russia's worst heat wave for a millennium.<br /> </p><p><br /> Moscow's health officials broke weeks of silence on the wider health effects of the smoke and heat, saying that ambulance dispatches were up by about a quarter to 10,000 a day. On Monday, the city's health department chief said normal average daily death rates were between 360 and 380 but were now running at around 700 per day.<br /> </p>
