KULOB/DUSHANBE, May 7, 2010, Asia-Plus -- A Kulob mudflow death toll is rising.  The body of the three-year-old boy has been found in the village of Lagmon, some 3-4 kilometers of Kulob, which was also hit by a mudflow today morning.

The first three killed in the mudflow were also children.  According to local residents, 20 other children have been reported missing.

Rescuers have managed to rescue some 40 children; they were evacuated to safe places.  Many of the disaster-hit people have been placed in hospitals and schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Murodali Alimardon has arrived in Kulob.  The Committee for Emergency Situations (CES) has applied to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), asking for assistance in mitigating effects of the disaster.

Representatives of international organizations active in the country have also arrived in the mudflow site.  Oxfam has organized hot meals for the disaster-hit residents of Kulob.

As it had been reported earlier, a powerful mudflow hit the city of Kulob today morning.   The mass of slurry has covered the Charmgari Poyon Street and the area of the Kulob terminal bus.  People who remained in the area hit by the disaster are saving themselves from the mudflow on the roofs of apartment buildings.  Rescue teams and ambulances are working in the mudflow site, rescuing people.

Servicemen and materiel of motorized rifle regiment of Russian military base 201 deployed in Kulob are also involved in the rescue operation.

In the meantime, Safarali Zokirov, chairman of the Muminobod district, some 30 kilometers of the city of Kulob, told Asia-Plus today that mudflow has destroyed 37 residential buildings in the villages of Bghi Habib, Tebalay and Tuto; residents of the destroyed houses have been evacuated to safe places.  The mudflow has also destroyed three bridges that has complicated access to these villages, he added.