Relief effort aids Russia flood victims

Russia’s flood victims are being offered gifts of food, clothes, bedding and toys by residents of Moscow, who have been moved by their plight.

The disaster zone near the Black Sea has a severe shortage of such goods so ten drop-off points have been set up in the capital.

Volunteers receive the donations bound for survivors of floods that killed more than 170 people.

The relief effort comes as controversy continues to rage over this weekend’s tragedy.

The government says local authorities were too slow issuing warnings to those hit by the wall of water. A senior official in the devastated Krymsk district has been dismissed.

The floods followed more than a month of heavy rainfall in the southern region of Krasnodar, a centre for agriculture and tourism. Analysts don’t expect any impact on Russia’s grain and oilseed harvest but damage to roads and railways could delay deliveries to port.

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