Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from areas at risk of being submerged in water across Kazakhstan and Russia amid the worst flooding in decades, officials said yesterday.
Fast-melting snow and ice have caused rivers that cross the two countries’ border regions to surge, flooding cities and roads and prompting local evacuation orders.
“Since the start of the flood [last month], 96,472 people have been rescued and evacuated, including 31,640 children,” Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said yesterday.
Photo: AFP / Maxar Technologies
That figure was 10,000 higher than one it gave on Tuesday. It said 24,000 people were involved in “round-the-clock” rescue-and-clearance operations, including pumping away water, laying barriers and carrying out “blast work” to prevent “ice jams.”
Forced evacuations were starting in the northern Kazakh city of Petropavlovsk, where a surge of water is expected to arrive over the next 48 hours.
“A huge flow of water is moving towards Petropavlovsk. Once again, I emphasize: huge,” state media quoted regional head Gauez Nurmukhambetov as saying.
The flooding has hit areas across the northwest of Kazakhstan, as well as the Orenburg, Tyumen and Kurgan regions of Russia, just across the border. In the city of Orenburg, home to 550,000 people, officials said water levels in the Ural River had risen 81cm over the past 24 hours.
The river depth stood at 978cm yesterday morning, well above the “critical level” of 930cm.
“According to expert forecasts, today it will rise again by another 30 to 70 centimeters,” the city administration said on Telegram.
Officials had warned earlier this week that yesterday could see the peak of flooding in the city.
“All residents of potential flood areas should collect valuable items, documents and immediately leave their homes,” it added.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
RSS