Dozens of American football fans who developed frostbite after attending a Kansas City Chiefs playoff game in temperatures of -33C have undergone amputations, a Missouri hospital has said.
Frostbite victims were treated at Research Medical Center after the match in January that took place during an 11-day cold snap where temperatures in the area dropped to near record lows.
The amputations involved mostly fingers and toes, the hospital said, adding more surgeries are expected over the next two to four weeks as “injuries evolve.”
A – 33C windchill was recorded on the day of the match against Dolphins-Chiefs on January 13, beating the previous record for the coldest game at the Arrowhead Stadium history when temperatures dipped to -17C in 2016.
The game in Kansas City went ahead despite the National Weather Service warning of “dangerously cold” windchills.
Fans were allowed to bring heated blankets into the stadium and small pieces of cardboard to place under their feet on the cold concrete.
The coldest game in NFL history remains -25 C for the 1967 NFL championship, when the Packers beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in a game that came to be known as the Ice Bowl. The windchill that day was -44C.
The US has been hit by several extreme weather events in recent weeks. Wildfires, snow blizzards, and high winds have affected thousands of residents across the United States.
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