Medvedev condoles on losses, damage due to flooding in N Korea

MOSCOW, August 3 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev expressed
condolences to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on the loss of numerous
lives and considerable damage due to mass flooding in the country.
In his telegram on Wednesday, Medvedev said, "Accept our sincere
condolences on the loss of numerous lives and considerable damage caused
by mass flooding. I ask you to convey my sincere sympathies to the next of
kin. I wish all injured the soonest recovery."
According to the state's figures, 141 people were killed and 112 were
missing after torrential typhoon rains lashed the country on July 10. A
South Korean human rights group said these figures were vastly
underestimated. Based on unnamed sources in North Korea, they claimed as
many as 10,000 people were dead or missing and 1.5 million had been forced
to leave their homes. The group said the discrepancy between the figures
highlighted the difficulty of obtaining accurate information in areas
where telephone lines and roads have been washed away. Train services have
also been cancelled because tunnels have collapsed or been flooded.
Without outside help, North Korea may struggle to cope with the flood
damage, which the government says has affected 26,000 hectares of land,
ruining 100,000 tonnes of crops. Other organisation's estimates of the
economic damage are four times higher. Many observers fear a repeat of the
devastating famines of the 1990s, which were caused by flood damage to
crops and worsened by Pyongyang's reluctance to accept international
support and monitoring.