25 people die in Kazakhstan as heavy rain and melting snow cause severe flooding

25 people killed in Kazakhstan flooding

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — 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 Friday.

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

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

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.

Some people have been put up in hotels and dormitories in Taldykorgan, Biyakhmetov said. Prime Minister Karim Masimov has traveled to the city to monitor rescue efforts, he said.

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

Emergency workers say people are being evacuated from their homes in Zhylbulak to a local 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.

The Emergency Services Ministry said it is deploying all necessary measures to deal with the disaster and carry out urgent repairs in the aftermath of the floods.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev told a government meeting Friday 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,” Nazarbayev said in a note on the presidential administration’s official Web site.

Hundreds of homes are destroyed annually by destructive floods in Kazakhstan during heavy rains and as snow begins to thaw in the early spring.

In an unrelated incident, emergency officials said eight people were killed in a helicopter crash Thursday in a remote area in northeastern Kazakhstan.