At least 20 die in Kazakhstan as heavy rain and melting snow cause severe flooding

20 killed in severe flooding in Kazakhstan

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Heavy rain and melting snow have caused severe floods across a region of Kazakhstan neighboring China, flooding villages and claiming at least 20 lives, emergency officials said Friday.

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

The Emergency Services Ministry said 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 head of the Emergency Services Ministry crisis center, Serik Turar, said that 20 or more people have been killed in the floods.

Officials says residents in the affected Aksu district have been notified of the danger and are being evacuated in buses sent from the regional capital, Taldykorgan.

In another part of the same region, heavy rain and thawing snow eroded a levee in the village of Zhylbulak, flooding 140 households 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 emergency repairs in the aftermath of the floods.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told a government meeting Friday that government aid will be provided for victims of the flood and that the premier would visit the devastated areas.

“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.