At least 24 people were killed when an enormous landslide swept through village in the Kyrgyz southern Osh region.
“All 24 citizens of Kyrgzystan, nine of them children, died under the landslide in the south of the country,' Ms. Elmira Sheripova, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, was cited as saying by Kyrgyz media outlets.
The landslide carrying million cubic meters of slurry hit the village of Ayu in the Osh region at around 07:20 am.
The emergencies minister, Kubatbek Boronov, flew to the scene on the orders of President Almazbek Atambayev to take “all possible measures to alleviate the consequences of the landslide and give all necessary help to families of the dead,” said a statement on the Kyrgyz president’s officials website.
Over 250 rescue workers including medics and soldiers were reportedly at the scene.
Officials say villagers had been warned earlier in the week of possible mudslides.
The Ayu landslide is the country's deadliest since 2004 when a mudslide killed 33 people.
