Floods And Suspicion In Russia

At least a hundred and seventy-two people have died in a horrific flood in southern Russia, and the final number of victims is likely to be much higher. Torrential rains and overflowing mountain rivers generated a wall of water that covered the town of Krymsk and settlements around it, crushing everything in its way; light constructions were smashed, cars were overturned and dragged away, and this town of about sixty thousand filled with mud and debris. As with other major disasters -- from the sinking of submarine Kursk, in 2000, to the terrorist siege of a school in North Ossetia, in 2004, and the forest fires in central Russia two years ago -- the rescue operation was bungled, and high officials are anxious to avoid accountability. The public's grief is now mixed with a deep distrust of the government.

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