Snowstorm death toll climbs as utilities scramble to restore power

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A fallen tree branch hangs on a power line in Natick, Massachusetts. Millions across the Northeast are still without power after an October 29 snowstorm.NEW: 6 storm-related deaths in MassachusettsNEW: 8 deaths in New Jersey An estimated 831,000 CL&P customers lost power during Saturday's stormGovernor: 4 of the 8 Connecticut deaths were from carbon monoxide poisoningAre you there? Send your photos

(CNN) -- The freak snowstorm that pounded the eastern United States late last week, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people, killed at least 22 people, officials said Thursday.

In Massachusetts, at least six deaths were related to the storm, and a seventh was under investigation, said Peter William Judge, public information officer for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Four of the deaths were linked to carbon monoxide poisoning; one person was electrocuted by a downed power line and one person died in a house fire blamed on the storm, he said.

In New Jersey, eight storm-related fatalities were tallied, including three people who burned to death in house fires, one person who died when a branch fell on him, another who died when a tree fell on him, and three people who died in motor vehicle accidents. A ninth death was under investigation.

In Connecticut, eight people died, four of them from carbon monoxide poisoning, said Gov. Dannel Malloy. In all, 91 shelters and 111 warming centers were to be open in the state Thursday night, he said.

An estimated 831,000 customers lost electricity during Saturday's storm, according to Connecticut Light & Power officials and the attorney general's office. The storm dropped at least a foot of snow in a band from West Virginia to Maine.

By Thursday afternoon, power had been restored to slightly more than half of the affected customers, said Dave Radanovich, a CL&P spokesman. He predicted power would be fully restored by Monday morning.

The utility -- using workers from 20 states -- deployed 867 line crews composed of two or three workers each to repair downed transmission lines; another 628 tree crews and 550 support crews were aiding the effort, Radanovich said.

President Barack Obama has signed emergency declarations for New Hampshire and Connecticut, clearing the way for federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts.

Connecticut's attorney general called Thursday for regulators to investigate CL&P, the state's main electric utility, over its handling of the storm.

Attorney General George Jepsen filed the request with the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, which is already investigating CL&P over its response to power outages during Tropical Storm Irene in September.

"The heavy, wet snow weighed down on the trees," Radanovich said. "Limbs were holding two times their normal weight," because the state's trees still have leaves on them.

In addition, CL&P had less time to prepare for Saturday's storm by bringing in out-of-state crews ahead of time, according to Radanovich, since the storm hit with little notice. "Forecasts for this storm initially predicted only 6 inches of snow, but on Friday that jumped to a foot," he said.

CNN's Andy Rose, Dan Verello, Hussein Saddique and Logan Burruss contributed to this report.

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Death toll passes 430 in Turkey quake

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Baby rescued from earthquake rubbleNEW: The death toll jumps to 459 NEW: Israel says it will send an assistance flight on WednesdayTwo-week-old Azra Karaduman, her mother, and her paternal grandmother were rescued 4 corpses are pulled from the rubble of the same building Find out how you can help those devastated by the earthquake in Turkey; visit our Impact Your World page at CNN.com/IMPACT.

Ercis, Turkey (CNN) -- In a dramatic rescue that gave hope to those praying for the survival of their loved ones, rescuers in eastern Turkey pulled a baby, her mother and her grandmother alive from the rubble Tuesday, two days after a devastating earthquake.

Dramatic video showed tiny Azra Karaduman being carried by rescuers to a vehicle that would take her to the hospital. They were holding a mask over her mouth to help give her oxygen.

Later, rescuers pulled the girl's mother and paternal grandmother alive from the rubble as well.

Officials said the 2-week-old girl's father remained trapped somewhere under the debris of the multiple-story building.

Over several hours, four corpses were pulled from the rubble of the same building, officials said. At least one of them was male. Officials did not say immediately whether one of the bodies was the baby's father.

The official death toll jumped to 459 Tuesday, with another 1,352 people injured, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Relief Agency said.

Teams of rescuers throughout the poor region struck by Sunday's 7.2-magnitude quake are searching for survivors around the clock.

Reaching Azra -- who, according to her maternal grandmother, was born three weeks prematurely -- was particularly difficult, rescuers told CNN.

The baby's mother managed to make contact with rescuers and get the baby to them through a narrow passage, a rescuer said.

Officials had to find a rescuer thin enough to fit into the crevice to get Azra. The rescuer told CNN it was the first time he had ever pulled someone alive from earthquake rubble in 12 years of doing such work.

While rescuers worked to get to the mother and grandmother, they managed to supply the two women with oxygen, officials said.

"It was hard to rescue them" because of the tight space, said rescue worker Tansu Bayram. "It was so difficult."

Some 2,262 buildings in the region lie in ruins.

The military is assisting rescue workers, who are using heavy machinery, shovels, and their bare hands.

Numerous aftershocks -- the largest a magnitude 6.0 -- have rattled the area, which is one of the poorest in Turkey. One on Tuesday measured 5.7, and was 7 km (4.3 miles) deep.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 55 buildings collapsed in Ercis on the north shore of Lake Van. The Turkish Red Crescent said about 25 apartment buildings and a student dormitory also collapsed in the town.

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A health services building also collapsed, along with part of a hospital, CNN sister network CNN Turk reported. The injured were being treated in the hospital's garden.

"People are really scared," CNN Turk reporter Nevsin Mengu said from Van on Monday. "The survivors are now trying to survive the cold weather."

Rescuers and survivors contended with near-freezing temperatures. Some people collected wood from collapsed buildings to burn for warmth, Mengu said.

She said many residents are not returning to their houses, opting instead to sleep on rooftops or in the streets. It was not clear whether their homes were uninhabitable or if they were just too frightened.

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The Red Crescent called for rescue workers, machinery and drinking water. A crisis center was set up by the country's Health Ministry in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

By Monday, more than 2,300 emergency personnel were in the region, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said. Tents and rescue teams have come from as far away as Iran and Azerbaijan.

Israel's Ministry of Defense said that on Wednesday, a plane with several portable housing structures will fly to eastern Turkey, the first of a number of flights accommodating a Turkish request for assistance. It will be a civilian plane rented by the Israeli government, the ministry said.

"The United Nations is in contact with the relevant authorities and stands ready to offer any assistance if requested," Martin Nesirky, spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said Monday.

Turkey is "no stranger to having these seismic events," but Sunday's quake is considered major, CNN Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf said.

A magnitude-7.6 earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, killed more than 17,000 people in 1999, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A magnitude-7.2 tremor in Duzce the same year killed 894 people, the agency reported.

Sunday's quake struck at 1:41 p.m. local time and was centered about 12 miles from Van, the agency said.

CNN's Talia Kayali and Hande Atay contributed to this report.

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Death toll from the corrupted cantaloupes hits 28

At least 133 cases in 26 States have reported outbreak is not long, but new cases are found in contaminated declineThe cantaloupes recalled monthThe last outbreak is the deadliest outbreak of diseases transmitted by food in the United States since 1998

(CNN) - the number of deaths linked to cantaloupes contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes increased to 28, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention said Tuesday.

A total of 133 people in 26 States have been infected, according to the CDC. In addition, a woman who was pregnant at the time of his illness had a miscarriage.

Although health officials have said it is too early to declare the outbreak, the number of new cases is decreasing.

"The peak of disease seems to have occurred since the end of August until mid-September," Dr. Barbara Mahon of the CDC said last week, adding that an additional monitoring will be necessary for at least another two weeks.

The cultivator, Jensen farms in Granada, Colorado issued voluntary set-aside of their brand cantaloupes Rocky Ford on 14 September. The contaminated cantaloupes should be store shelves, the CDC said.

Unsanitary conditions in Colorado melon farm packing facilities are a possible contributing because of one of the worst outbreaks of the nation of the contamination of listeria in food, health officials have said.

The listeria outbreak is the deadliest outbreak of diseases transmitted by food in the United States since 1998.

Groups at high risk of listeria are to older adults, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women.

Farms Jensen cantaloupes should be removed immediately, even if some of them have been partially eaten, the agency recommended. If consumers are unsure of the source of a melon, they called to ask your supermarket. If the origin is unknown, the fruit must pitch.

Refrigerators a melon does not kill the bacteria, which can grow at low temperatures, and consumers should not try to clean the bacteria.

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