| Heavy rains, mudslides, flooding kill 23 in Tajikistan |
|
20/05/2009 15:52 (265 Day 06:01 minutes ago) | |||||
|
The FINANCIAL -- According to RIA Novosti, at least 23 people, including 10 minors, have died in Tajikistan since early April due to heavy rains, the Central Asian state's emergencies service said on May 20.
Some 40 towns and districts across the mountainous republic have been affected by the rains, which have caused landslides and flooding. The latest casualties were reported in the Vakhdad District, some 50 km east of the capital Dushanbe, where two sisters were buried under a mudslide.
The rains also caused a rock fall, which blocked a highway linking Dushanbe and the city of Romit in central Tajikistan. No injuries have been reported.
A total of 10,000 people were left homeless by the disaster. Rains have also destroyed 40,000 hectares of crops, 160 km of roads and 40 bridges. The mountainous country is experiencing shortages of construction materials, fuel, food, medicines and other essential goods.
Tajikistan has requested aid from the United Nations and other international organizations.
"The Tajik government said that losses stood at more than $100 million, according to preliminary estimates," the UN press service said. "A total of 200 houses were completely destroyed, as well as hundreds of objects of infrastructure and industry, such as hospitals and schools."
In mid-March Russia send humanitarian aid to Tajikistan after severe weather conditions caused mass energy shortages in the impoverished Central Asian nation.
|
|
|
