The death toll from the flood in the village of Kyzyl-Agash in Kazakhstan''s Alma Ata region has reached 35, the mass media reported on Saturday.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called for opening a criminal case against the owner of the reservoir whose dam ruptured, flooding the village. "The Prosecutor General''s Office or the Interior Ministry should open criminal proceedings against the owner of the reservoir. He must be held responsible, in connection with the death of so many people," Nazarbayev said at a meeting with the officials from the government crisis commission.

"Chile, China and Turkey were hit by earthquakes. Those were natural disasters which could not be resisted. But failing to check the dam safety on time, warn the population of danger and take actions to evacuate them should be viewed as a crime," the Kazinform news agency quoted Nazarbayev as saying.

Prime Minister Karim Masimov said all villagers had been evacuated as of Saturday, and accommodated at dormitories or barracks.

"The urgent issues are mostly settled; resources are due to be allocated on Monday," Masimov said.

The Kyzylagash dam burst at around 22:00 on March 11, flooding 257 households in the village with a population of 3,000.

Nazarbayev conveyed his condolences to the families of the fatalities.