Helicopter evacuating children from Yakutia flooded village

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A helicopter is evacuating children form the flooded village of Chimnai in Yakutia. On Wednesday, a helicopter Mi-8 brought 22 children from Chimnai to the village of Dergelyakh, to which the flood does not threaten, the press service of the main emergencies department in Yakutia said.

Before that an aircraft brought explosives in the Tattinsky district. The explosives are used for blasting ice drifts and laying additional drainage channels from the villages of Ytyk-Kyuel, Chimnai and Kharbalakh.

As many as 1,009 houses remain flooded, and 3,567 people were evacuated from these three villages so far, the press service reported. They are temporarily accommodated at evacuation stations, at their relatives and acquaintances.

About 1,500 people, more than 80 vehicles and 10 boats are involved in the efforts to eliminate the emergency situation in the Tattinsky district. Riverbanks and dams protecting the villages from the flood are being reinforced with sacks full of sand and gravel.

// May 24, 2007

Reported by ITAR-TASS