Kazakhstan PM orders to assist flood victims.

16/3 Tass 337

ASTANA, March 16 (Itar-Tass) -- Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim
Masimov has ordered the regional authorities and national commercial
companies to assist financially to the Alma-Ata Region, where a flood
killed 37 people of late.

"We shall begin with 50 million tenges /over 340,000 dollars/, and
then we'll see," he said addressing the leaders of regional authorities.
The Samruk-Kazyn National Wellbeing Fund will allocate 500 million
tenges /over 3.4 million dollars/ to tackle the aftermath of the flood.
On March 11 the Kyzyl-Agash dam failed after a period of heavy rains
and high air temperatures. The water almost washed away a neighbouring
village. About 3,000 people had lived there. Over one thousand rescuers
took part in the disaster relief operation. The situation is gradually
coming back to normal, however the rescue operation is still going on.
The press service of Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry has informed that
several criminal cases were opened and some officials believed to be
responsible were detained.
Every family of a victim whose life was lost in the flood will be paid
a compensation of 500,000 tenges /about 4,500 dollars/.
A crisis management commission has made a decision new housing should
be built for each family the flood left homeless.

-0-kar/str