President Vladimir Putin pledged on Wednesday to throw the book at officials who failed to provide timely warnings about the deadly floods in southern Russia earlier this month.
“If it turns out that some official did not fulfill his duties in a timely manner, including the duty of providing advance warning about a flood threat, they will be held responsible in accordance with the law,” he said.
Putin warned on Tuesday that heads would roll over the poor handling of the aftermath of the devastating floods. He directed the Russian Federation Investigative Committee to assess the officials’ performance in responding to the floods, establish the cause of the massive death toll, and duly inform the public about its findings before July 23, the Kremlin press service said.
Putin also instructed the authorities at all levels to set up effective cooperation with NGOs in preventing possible emergencies in the future.
The president called on state and government officials to get things back to normal in the worst affected town of Krymsk where over 150 people were killed.
Putin, who visited the city on Sunday for the second time since the flood, urged the authorities to “do their best to prevent similar disasters in future.”
The floods, which swept through three cities in southern Russia, including Krymsk, on July 6-7, killed 171 people and submerged 7,000 homes, causing massive damage to the gas, electricity and water supplies and road and rail links.
