Serious flooding has affected parts of Russia, and in particular Siberia, forcing 6,000 people to leave their submerged homes, the Russian emergency situations ministry said Tuesday. The evacuation of several hundred people had begun, it said. The worst flooding hit Byisk in Altay region of eastern Siberia where 1,350 houses were flooded, the ministry said.
About 5,000 people, 1,250 of them children, were driven from their homes. Only 317 people, 106 of them children, have been evacuated but the authorities were trying to build a tent city to give emergency shelter to 2,800 people.
Flooding linked to the melting of snow is a regular springtime occurrence in Russia. In May 2005, more than 4,000 people living in the Russian Caucasus, Chechnya and Dagestan had to be evacuated following major flooding.
Source: Agence France-Presse
