North Korea has vowed to punish local officials in a typhoon that struck the east coast on Wednesday.
A Workers’ Party newspaper has blamed authorities in the coastal city of Wonsan for failing to prepare for Typhoon Maysak, accusing you of having an “irresponsible attitude.”
The newspaper did not say how many people were missing, injured or dead, but said there were “dozens of victims.”
It claimed that officials had failed to comply with orders issued by the ruling party.
Local authorities in Wonsan have been instructed to immediately organize a plan to fully identify the dangerous properties and evacuate all residents, the Rodong Xinmun newspaper reported on Saturday.
It was decided to impose severe party, administrative and legal punishment on the victims.
CBC Hutton, editor of the BBC Asia Pacific, reports that local officials have not been able to verify whether the orders were ignored or whether the ruling party is unjustly targeting them to quell public discontent.
Footage from state broadcaster KCTV showed bridges and concrete walls in Congolese province being destroyed in high floodwaters.
Within a week of another typhoon, Typhoon Bavi pounded the country, wreaking havoc in North Korea.
North Korea is particularly vulnerable to flooding due to deforestation in the mountains and hills. Its basic infrastructure also means that natural disasters pose a particular challenge.
Typhoon Maizak also killed two people in South Korea and evacuated more than 2,200 people to the southern city of Busan.
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