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March 13, 2010

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Kazakh melting snow, rain claim 25

HEAVY rain and melting snow have caused severe floods across a region of Kazakhstan neighboring China, flooding villages and killing around two dozen people, officials said yesterday.

Southern Kazakhstan was affected by unusually intense snowfalls this winter and fast-rising temperatures are now causing massive flooding and mudslides across the region.

The Emergency Services Ministry said a dam at the Kyzyl-Agash reservoir in the eastern Almaty region ruptured on Thursday, pouring water into several nearby villages and affecting 3,000 residents.

At least 25 deaths have been confirmed, Almaty regional government spokesman Ilyas Biyakhmetov said. Officials say residents in the affected district have been evacuated in buses sent from the regional capital, Taldykorgan.

In another part of the same region, heavy rain and thawing snow eroded a levee in the village of Zhylbulak, flooding 140 households and affecting 820 people.

Emergency workers say people are being evacuated from their homes in Zhylbulak to a high school building. Elderly people and children have been taken to Taldykorgan, emergency officials said.

Major railroads and highway bridges across the country have also been washed away, causing severe disruptions.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told a government meeting yesterday that government aid will be provided for victims of the flood.

"I extend profound condolences to the relatives of the victims, as well as to all those affected," he said in a note on the presidential administration's official Website.

 

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