Nine people died in the southern republic of Khakassia when an accumulation of ice in the Abakan river caused flooding that inundated 450 houses in the town of Abaza, Oleg Berestevich of the republic's emergencies ministry told ITAR-TASS news agency.

Some 1,200 people residents were evacuated, he said.

In the neighboring Kemerovo region, eight people were killed when the Kondoma river overflooded. One person also died from flooding in the Altai region at the end of last week.

Russian planes have begun to bomb the ice on Altai rivers, where water levels are more than a meter (three feet) above what is considered a danger level.

TERRA.WIRE