Four kids among 171 dead in Russian floods

Moscow, July 10 (IANS) While floods in Russia's Krasnodar region have killed at least 171 people, the toll includes four children aged between one to 12 in the Krymsk town, the worst affected by Saturday's natural disaster, RIA Novosti reported Monday.

"According to the latest data, four children including a 12-tear-old girl, two eight-year-old girls and a one-year-old boy, have been killed," said Nikolai Warshavets, top forensic official in the regional healthcare body.

At least 171 people, many of them elderly or handicapped, died and over 5,000 houses submerged when torrential floods hit the Krasnodar region in southern Russia on the night of July 7-8, said officials.

Russian Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov has said about 10,000 rescuers and over 1,000 machinery units are working on the spot.

The main stage of the search operation in Krymsk town had been completed as the "six residential areas, rivers' beds and roadways had been thoroughly examined," the minister said Monday.

He dismissed rumours suggesting water from a local reservoir had contributed to the flooding.