N Korea flood death toll rises to 133

SEVERE flooding in a North Korean border region has killed at least 133 people with another 395 missing and thousands of homes swept away, the UN says, after Pyongyang reported “great hardship” in the area.

Some 107 000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the area along the Tumen River, the world body said in a statement received yesterday which cited Pyongyang government figures.

The North’s official media has described the downpour which led to the floods near the northeastern border with China and Russia as the worst for decades, and said it brought severe hardship to residents.

It says a nationwide mass-mobilisation 200-day labour campaign intended to bolster the economy has been redirected to assist the flood victims.

The impoverished nation is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods, due partly to deforestation At least 169 people were killed by a massive rainstorm in the summer of 2012.

Major state resources are swallowed up by a missile and nuclear weapons programme which Pyongyang says is essential to deter US aggression.

More than 35 500 houses have been hit by the latest floods, with 69% of them completely destroyed, and 8 700 public buildings have and poor infrastructure. been damaged, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said in a statement.

Around 16 000 hectares of farmland have been inundated and at least 140 000 people urgently need help, it said.

Ocha said a group made up of UN agencies, international NGOs, the international Red Cross and the North’s Red Cross had visited parts of the flood-stricken region last week to assess needs. — AFP