The 1.2 million residents of the region around the eastern Czech city of Ostrava were urged Tuesday to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid heavy smog that has blanketed the region since Sunday, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa). A thermal inversion was blamed for trapping dust, coal smoke from homes and factory emissions, creating a respiratory hazard in the Czech Republic's third-largest city. North Moravian health officials said babies and older adults should stay indoors, and warned others not to exercise outside. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said cold, smoggy conditions would likely continue until at least Friday. --SP 21 18 Local Time 18 18 GMT
