Death toll in Kazakh flooding rises to 35

THE death toll from a massive flood that devastated a village in southern Kazakhstan has risen to 35, the country's president has revealed.

A privately owned dam at a reservoir in the eastern Almaty region neighbouring China ruptured on Thursday evening, unleashing torrents almost two metres high and completely destroying Kyzyl-Agash, a village of 3,000 people.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a government meeting that the owner of the dam could face prosecution for failing to take adequate safety measures in preparation for the spring floods.

Nazarbayev also criticised the Emergency Services Ministry for failing to properly check on the safety of water supply facilities across the former Soviet Central Asian nation.

Authorities said more than 600 emergency workers have reached Kyzyl-Agash to help clear the debris and that police have been posted at the entrance to the village to prevent looting. Emergency services minister Vladimir Bozhko is leading an operation to assess the scale of the damage.

An on-site commission is assisting in organising funerals and providing replacement documents for the surviving flood victims.

By Friday evening, emergency workers had erected tents for 1,000 people near Kyzyl-Agash. Around 700 people have been evacuated to temporary accommodation in the regional capital, Taldykorgan, and a further 300 have been taken to the nearby village of Sagabien.

Prime Minister Karim Masimov travelled on Friday evening to Taldykorgan to personally supervise rescue efforts: "We need to have understanding for the situation of the victims – they have suddenly been left without homes, money and documents."

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