A massive landslide hit a village in southern Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 34 people and sweeping away 15 homes.
"At about 4 p.m. in the Osh region of southern Kyrgyzstan 34 people were killed in a landslide. The landslide swept away about 15 houses," an Emergencies Ministry official said.
He said the village that had been hit was called Kurbu-Tash, which lies in the mountainous Uzgen district of the Central Asian republic. The village is about 60 miles east of Osh, towards the Chinese border.
Interfax news agency said rescue teams had already recovered some bodies. It said other houses in the village were evacuated. Electricity and telephone communication were knocked out in the village, the agency said.
First Deputy Prime Minister Kurmanbek Osmonov has arrived at the scene, Interfax said.
