North Korea said on Saturday that at least 600 people are dead or missing following devastating floods, twice the previous official toll.
Torrential rain, strong winds and landslides left at least 600 people dead or missing and thousands of people injured, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Central Statistics Bureau.
Official figures quoted by relief agencies earlier spoke of about 300 dead or missing.
The agency, in its starkest assessment so far of the damage, said the downpours earlier this month “caused huge material losses to the [country], creating unprecedented difficulties in people’s living and economic construction”.
It said the homes of at least 240Â 000 families were totally or partially destroyed or inundated, leaving at least 100Â 000 people totally homeless and about 900Â 000 others flood-stricken.
It said more than 8Â 000 public buildings, schools, thousands of health service institutions and nurseries were totally or partly destroyed, along with more than 1Â 000 major production facilities such as mine complexes and factories. — AFP