Kyrgyzstan landslide claims 24 villagers

Nine kids among the dead in early morning disaster

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN // Twenty-four people, including nine children, were killed yesterday when a landslide swept across part of a village in Kyrgyzstan.

The landslide hit the village of Ayu in the Osh region at about 6.40am GMT and buried six houses with the residents inside.

A total of 266 rescue workers, including medics and soldiers, rushed to the scene, said the government. Kubatbek Boronov, the emergencies minister, flew to the site on the orders of president Almazbek Atambayev to take “all possible measures to alleviate the consequences of the landslide and give all necessary help to the families of the dead”.

Mr Atambayev urged villagers to heed warnings to leave their homes during extreme weather.

“The biggest pain in all the trouble that has befallen us is [the fact that] two or three days ago our compatriots living there did not listen to the specialists and refused to resettle,” said Mr Atambayev, who declared today a day of national mourning.

“I appeal to my compatriots. A person’s life, especially the life of a child, is much more precious than any property, any livestock. You cannot put any sort of property above life.”

Prime minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov visited Ayu after the landslide and said the government would provide all necessary assistance.

Mr Boronov was responsible for organising the relocation of 40 families living near the disaster zone and housing them in tents, given the risk of further landslides.

Last month, the government ordered residents to leave their homes because of the risk of landslides.

Thirty-four families had left their homes, but some later returned, said the government.

Yesterday’s landslide was the second major tragedy to strike the former Soviet country of 6 million people this year.

In January, a Turkish cargo plane crashed into a village near Kyrgyzstan’s main airport, killing 39 people.

Ninety- five per cent of the country’s territory is mountainous.