171 people were killed and 24,000 bore huge losses after devastating floods in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

       Several towns and villages were swept by the flood, which was caused by heavy rains, on Friday night when most of the people were asleep. The most aggrieved place is Krymsk, a town with the population of 57,000 people, located some 87 kilometers (54 miles) from Krasnodar. The town was practically eliminated by huge water flows, it also has the biggest amount of perished citizens. Most of them were old people who didn't have enough time to leave their houses at night.

      The abruptness and ferociousness of the flood triggered rumors that the disaster was caused by negligence of the localauthorities who had allegedly opened the Neberdzhayevsk water reservoir to prevent it from overfilling and flooding the bigger cities - Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk. Later this information was disproved by Russia's Investigating Committee.

      The flood in Krasnodar district was preceded by the strongest downpours. About 300 millimetres of precipitations were reported to fall in the region on July 6 - a three-months norm.

       The governor of Krasnodar region, Alexander Tkachyov, has declared July 9 day of mourning for victims of the flood. The national Day of Mourning was also declared for the victims of a bus crash in Ukraine. According to the official decree, state flags in Russia and in its overseas missions will be flown half-mast, and all media, television and cultural organizations will be recommended to delay all entertainment programmes for another day. 

Sources: Lenta.ru RIA Novosti Images: thetimesnews.ru