Putin orders probe after floods claim 150 lives

Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered investigators to find out if enough was done to prevent 150 people being killed in floods in southern Russia after flying to the region to deal with the first big disaster of his new presidency.

Putin, who was criticised for his slow reaction to disasters earlier in his career, said after visiting the flood zone at the weekend that money would be put aside for building new homes for victims of the worst flooding in decades in Krasnodar, a relatively rich region with agriculture and tourism industries.

An Interior Ministry crisis centre said 144 people had been killed in the flooding after two months’ average rainfall fell in a few hours on Friday night. Most of the dead were drowned, many of them elderly people caught unawares as they slept.

Police said survivors climbed into trees and onto roofs to stay above waters which flooded buildings and created driving torrents in some streets.

Rains continued in some coastal areas yesterday, including the hardest hit town, Krymsk, where 139 people had been found dead out of a total toll of 150, Russian newswires stated.

The sun was shining and the waters had receded from resort town Gelendzhik, on the Black Sea coast, where nine people died. Almost 30,000 homes were also without electricity and gas.

The consequences of the flash flood could be more lasting for Putin, though he moved swiftly to show he was on top of the rescue effort. “I have asked the leadership of the [federal] investigative committee to come down.

“The investigative committee will check the actions of all the authorities — how notice was given, how it could have been given, how it should have been given and who acted in what way,” Putin told a meeting in Krymsk.