Landslide buries village in Kyrgystan’s Osh: 24 missing

Rescue work under way to recover 24 missing after landslide buries village in southwest Osh region, the government says.

Osh region, Kyrgyzstan map

At least 24 people have gone missing after a landslide buried a village in Kyrgyzstan’s southwest Osh region, the Central Asian nation’s emergency ministry said on Saturday.

The landslide, caused by heavy rains, destroyed eleven houses in the village in the Uzgen district of Osh region at around 01:20 GMT on Saturday.

The exact number of people hit by the landslide was unclear, the ministry said.

More than 180 emergency ministry personnel are working at the site to excavate the buried village, according to local authorities.

The local administration’s press office said people in the area received a warning about risk of a possible landslide and were advised to leave the area.

Those who decided to stay signed papers saying they had been informed about the danger, the press office said.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 25 landslides have been registered in the Osh region, killing six people, Russia’s state-run news agency RIA reported.

Source: Reuters