Heavy rainfalls render 17,000 North Koreans homeless

People walk down a flooded street in Pyongyang, 11 August 2007. Almost 300 people are dead or missing in floods in North Korea, an aid agency said Thursday, as the communist state painted a grim picture of inundated crops and homes, power cuts and washed-out roads.(AFP/KCNA/File)


Heavy rainfalls render 17,000 North Koreans homeless

SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- Hundreds of people were killed or missing in North Korea in heavy downpours that battered the impoverished communist country last week, a North Korean official said in a report on Wednesday.

혻 혻 The downpours, which flooded even the center of its capital, Pyongyang, and wide sections of the country's western region, also left about 17,000 people homeless, said the official from Pyeongan Province in a report carried by Pyongyang Radio.

혻혻 "Almost all areas in the province were affected by big floods. Not a few residents were reported dead or missing and we estimate that around 17,000 people were left displaced," the unidentified official said in the report, monitored in Seoul.

혻혻 Roads, railways and bridges were destroyed, while electricity and other social infrastructure got affected, he said.

혻 혻 Video footage on North Korean television showed parts of the center of the country's capital, Pyongyang, submerged, forcing pedestrians to walk through knee-deep flood waters.

혻혻 According to North Korean media reports, torrential rainfalls which started last week left "hundreds of people" dead or missing and more than 63,000 families displaced across the country. One international news report put the death toll at about 200.

혻혻 The communist state is appealing for outside assistance of food and other daily necessities. The United States earlier said that it was considering humanitarian aid to the North.

혻혻(END)