RUSSIA: Floods moving through Russia's southern fringes have killed over 50 people, left an unknown number missing and made tens of thousands homeless, emergency officials said yesterday.
The Emergencies Ministry put the known death toll from some of Russia's most disastrous flooding in the past 10 years at 53.
But officials conceded the final picture could be worse with many people from villages in the northern Caucasus, an area which includes rebel Chechnya, still missing after several days of flooding that followed heavy rain.
"So far, we know of only 53 deaths, but we cannot put a figure on those missing," a ministry spokesman said.
Interfax news agency said up to 70 people were known to have died as torrents of swirling floodwater carried off homes and factories and wrecked bridges and telephone lines.
Emergencies Minister Mr Sergei Shoigu, set to fly back to the stricken regions after a first visit this weekend, criticised regional authorities for failing to evacuate threatened villages more swiftly.
"We could have escaped some loss of human life if all networks had been in working order, from weather forecasters to those responsible for storm warnings," he told Russian state television.
"Unfortunately, I cannot say that all local authority services were working at the necessary level," he said.
Cargo planes and Mi-8 military helicopters, drafted in from the fight against separatist rebels in Chechnya, distributed food, medicine and supplies to those cut off in remote areas.
Thousands of rescue workers deployed in the area plucked weeping residents from threatened areas and set up temporary housing in tent settlements across the region, while others worked to restore rail and road links.
"Many bridges have been swept away and water from the mountains has swept away roads, so people are cut off from the outside world and left without electricity supplies," Gen Vladimir Moltenskoi, commander of Russia's forces in Chechnya said.
The national electricity company said 105,000 people in 25 cities and towns were without power, but electricians were working to restore links. Among the most affected areas were Stavropol and Karachayevo-Cherkessia, lashed by heavy rain and flood waters for almost a week. In Stavropol alone, Itar-Tass news agency reported 14 bridges, 38 km of highway and 52 km of railway destroyed.
Emergencies Ministry helicopters monitoring the area said water levels were dropping, with expected dry weather set to help further.
Meanwhile, a heat wave continued to take its toll on Hungary yesterday, with temperatures in the southern part of the country soaring to a new record high for the day, the national meteorological office said.
A blistering heat wave has scorched Hungary for almost a week, with emergency services in Budapest alone taking an average of 300 calls a day, mainly from the elderly.
The temperature hit 38.2 degrees in the southern Hungarian town of Bekescsaba - the highest temperature Hungary has ever recorded for June 24th, meteorologists said.
The previous highest temperature for June 24th was 36.6 degrees, registered in 1962 in the western Hungarian town of Szombathely. A police spokesman said 14 people have drowned bathing in the Danube in the past few weeks, since the hot weather started. - (Reuters)