Holiday villages swept away in Russian Black Sea coast flooding which claimed 59 lives were not up to proper safety standards, the state attorney's department charged today.
Villages and holiday camps had been built "with complete disregard for all construction norms, but with profit to certain persons," the Deputy Attorney General Sergei Fridinsky was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying.
Rainfall followed by flooding swept away all in its path last Thursday on the Black Sea coast, including lightly built holiday homes.
Many of the dead were holidaymakers, some swept in their cars into the sea.
The state attorney's department has begun an investigation into the alleged construction failings.
The Russian emergencies ministry Wednesday revised last week's death toll upwards by one to 59.
Sources in the administration of Krasnodar, the region hit by the floods, told Interfax news agency the number of deaths now stood at 62, with another 15 people still missing.
But the ministry of emergencies could not confirm these new figures.
AFP