Czech Government requests UN help to battle deadly flooding

In a bid to battle deadly flooding that has forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people, the Government of the Czech Republic has called for international assistance for affected areas in Prague, Bohemia and the north-western part of the country, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In its latest report on the floods, which have killed nine people so far, OCHA said that the Ministry of the Interior has requested portable dryers, floating pumps and electric submersible pumps.

As of yesterday evening, the level of the Vlatva River was still rising in Prague, and on Monday, authorities in the capital ordered the evacuation of an estimated 50,000 people as the rising water approached the city after days of rainfall swelled rivers in the south, OCHA said.

The Czech Prime Minister declared a state of emergency in Prague, Bohemia, Plzen and Karlovy Vary in the Zapadocesky region in the western of the country.