Rescuers evacuated dozens of inhabitants from the village of Kara-Teguin in the southwestern province of Djalal-Abad following the disaster, a spokesman for the ministry said.

Earlier reports by the Russian news agency Interfax quoting the ministry spoke of at least 30 dead.

Rescuers had recovered four bodies so far, while numerous houses were in danger of collapse and had been evacuated, the agency said.

Both electricity and telephone service to the village in the former Soviet republic have been cut off, the spokesman added.

First Deputy Prime Minster Kurmanbek Osmonov has flown to the site of the catastrophe, Interfax said. It is the second time in three days a landslide struck the area, but the first one on Friday did not claim any victims.

SPACE.WIRE