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ANKARA, Turkey -- Blizzards closed roads and disrupted air traffic in the southern Balkans for a second day Saturday, prompting Greece and Bulgaria to declare states of emergency in certain areas, Turkey to shelter homeless in jails and Romania to dynamite river ice.

Albania's army delivered flour and cooking oil to northeastern villages cut off by snow.

Two more people died from the cold, raising the toll across the region to five since the frost began Thursday. In Turkey, at least two other people were killed after slipping on icy roads.

On the Turkey-Bulgaria border, an illegal immigrant trying to sneak into Bulgaria was found frozen to death. It was the fourth death in Turkey from exposure since temperatures dropped to minus 4 Thursday.

In Greece, an elderly woman also was found frozen to death Saturday and states of emergency were declared in the capital and southern Greece, where some homes lost power.

The heaviest snowfall in a decade blanketed Athens with 6 inches, trapping hundreds of motorists for nearly 20 hours on the main highway to Thessaloniki.

Police, firefighters and army troops worked to clear jackknifed trucks from the road, but heavy snow resumed Saturday afternoon and forced sections of the highway to close again.

About 2 feet of snow fell in Athens' northern suburbs.

The Athens airport temporarily closed while snow plows cleared runways and crews deiced aircraft. Highways around the airport also were blocked by heavy snow.

Flights resumed later Saturday.

More than 100 towns in central Greece were cut off by snow and the region also suffered sporadic power outages.

'Worst in 40 years'

A cargo ship carrying 270 illegal immigrants stranded in bad weather and was escorted by the coast guard to a port near Athens, authorities said.

Dozens of people in Athens were hospitalized after slipping on ice.

"These are the worst conditions in some 40 years," Greek Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis said.

Bulgaria declared a state of emergency in the Dulovo district near the northern city of Silistra, where traffic was paralyzed by snowdrifts reaching 5 feet.

In Turkey, 4-6 inches fell in Ankara and Istanbul, and about 16 inches were recorded in more mountainous regions.

"Turkey, I believe, has not seen snow as heavy as this for many years," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said.

The snow forced Turkey's national carrier, Turkish Airlines, to suspend several flights out of Istanbul Saturday morning.

Many of Istanbul's main roads were cleared by Saturday, a day after a blizzard brought the city to a standstill.