Residents in southern Krymsk region say they received no warnings about heavy rains, as they begin to bury 171 dead
Officials have insisted they are not to blame for the deaths of at least 171 people due to flash floods in southern Russia at the weekend, despite admitting they had advance knowledge of the weather event.
"Do you think, my dears, that we could have warned each of you?" Alexander Tkachev, the long-serving head of southern Russia's Krasnodar region, said during a televised meeting with furious residents. "With what forces?"
In an attempt to deflect blame, he later fired the head of the Krymsk region, the area hit hardest by the flooding.
The floods, which have left thousands homeless and caused an estimated 4 billion roubles (£79m) in damages, have managed to shock a nation long used to deadly disasters. It has not only highlighted the government's lacklustre safety record, but its failure to value individual life.
Vladimir Puchkov, head of the emergencies ministry, admitted that mistakes were made: "A system to warn the residents was set up. But, unfortunately, not everyone was warned early enough."
Residents said they received no warnings at all.
A wave up to 9 metres high swept through Krymsk early on Saturday morning, amid torrential rain. Residents have blamed the flood in part on the management of a nearby reservoir, but officials have said the dam did not play a role in the disaster.
People started burying their dead on Monday. Wooden coffins draped in crushed red and blue velvet arrived at one Krymsk cemetery in droves.
The morgue at the city hospital was filled to capacity by Sunday. Large lorries lent by a neighbouring furniture store were used to transport and hold the dead in the hospital courtyard. Each lorry contained dozens of naked bodies, bloated and blue. A van run by local prosecutors stuck black and white photos of the dead on its rear door, a crude method of identifying the dead.
The hospital courtyard filled with the sounds of wailing women each time another body was identified.
"I came here to find my sister," said Zinaida Martinovich, a 74-year-old woman dressed in a multi-coloured housecoat and headscarf. "They pulled her out from under a bed – she was 84, where could she run to in the middle of the night? Everything was carried away."
"I have no one," Martinovich said, her green eyes filled with tears. Nurses ran to her side as she began to hyperventilate.
Nearby, relatives gathered around an open coffin. A body lay covered by a white lace sheet, the brown shoes poking out being the only evidence that a man lay beneath.
Doctors and emergency workers at the scene said they had no idea how many bodies had been brought in. Several doubted the official death toll, saying they expected it was "a lot more" than the official 171.
"Nobody knows – they're still finding bodies as they go from house to house," said a regional prosecutor, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press. "It was Friday night – you know how Russians like to relax. Many had alcoholic drinks and probably had no idea what was happening."
The Kremlin declared Monday a national day of mourning. Dozens of opposition activists flew to Krymsk on Sunday and Monday, criticising the government effort as lacking.
Ilya Ponomaryov, a Duma deputy with the opposition A Just Russia party, said around 500 activists were expected from around the country.
"Putin has created a system of people who have forgotten how to take responsibility," Ponomaryov said. "A system that chooses leaders through votes doesn't allow such crimes. This system of appointments, and dishonest elections, allows through people who are nothing more than loyal to the boss."
Ponomaryov said Russian citizens had so far donated 700,000 roubles to the residents of the region via an online payment system. He was fielding calls from wealthy donors offering $100,000 at a time, he said.
"It's happening all around the country – no one believes this government anymore," he said.
The disaster is the first to hit Russia since Putin returned to a third term as president following elections in March that the opposition and international observers criticised as neither free nor fair.
His carefully crafted image of national saviour has been tested by an increasingly active opposition movement that has seized upon the internet and social networks to bypass the country's tightly controlled state media.