MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an investigation Sunday into whether sufficient warnings were given ahead of flash flooding in the south of the country which has claimed at least 171 lives.
As 1,500 emergency workers continued recovery and rescue operations in and around the Krasnodar holiday resort region of the Black Sea, Putin made a flying tour of the disaster zone by helicopter.
In addition to a steadily rising death toll from the freak floods, which followed torrential downpours, police are dealing with possible looters.
Some 5,000 homes have been flooded, and around 22,000 people are still without power.
Russia's prosecutor-general, Alexander Bastrykin, has launched a criminal investigation against persons unknown on possible charges of negligence.
Some residents in the region have accused the authorities of opening the floodgates of a nearby dam, contributing to the flash floods caused by more than a month's worth of rain in just a few hours.
Investigators have admitted that water was drained from the reservoir, but denied it was a contributory factor.
"From the government I expect nothing," said one weeping man, as state television showed images of desperate people trying to escape the floodwaters.
Putin, giving an interview onboard the helicopter, said that some 3,000 people were being put up in temporary accommodation.
Thousands of residents have lost all their belongings.
Some 140 people drowned in the Krimsk district, some 300 kilometres north of Sochi, the venue for next year's Winter Olympics, while at least two people drowned at Russia's largest port on the Black Sea, Novorossiysk.
Nine tourists are known to have died at the coastal town of Gelendzhik, including five from electrocution after lightning hit a power transformer.
"No one here can remember such a catastrophe," local governor Alexander Tkachev said late Saturday. A state of emergency has been declared in several cities in the region.-dpa
As 1,500 emergency workers continued recovery and rescue operations in and around the Krasnodar holiday resort region of the Black Sea, Putin made a flying tour of the disaster zone by helicopter.
In addition to a steadily rising death toll from the freak floods, which followed torrential downpours, police are dealing with possible looters.
Some 5,000 homes have been flooded, and around 22,000 people are still without power.
Russia's prosecutor-general, Alexander Bastrykin, has launched a criminal investigation against persons unknown on possible charges of negligence.
Some residents in the region have accused the authorities of opening the floodgates of a nearby dam, contributing to the flash floods caused by more than a month's worth of rain in just a few hours.
Investigators have admitted that water was drained from the reservoir, but denied it was a contributory factor.
"From the government I expect nothing," said one weeping man, as state television showed images of desperate people trying to escape the floodwaters.
Putin, giving an interview onboard the helicopter, said that some 3,000 people were being put up in temporary accommodation.
Thousands of residents have lost all their belongings.
Some 140 people drowned in the Krimsk district, some 300 kilometres north of Sochi, the venue for next year's Winter Olympics, while at least two people drowned at Russia's largest port on the Black Sea, Novorossiysk.
Nine tourists are known to have died at the coastal town of Gelendzhik, including five from electrocution after lightning hit a power transformer.
"No one here can remember such a catastrophe," local governor Alexander Tkachev said late Saturday. A state of emergency has been declared in several cities in the region.-dpa
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