The death toll from severe flooding in the Black Searegion of southern Russia has risen to at least 150.
Torrential rains dropped more than 28 centimeters (nearly afoot) of water on the region, flooding more than 5,000 homes.
The water rushed into the area around the hard-hit town ofKrimsk with such speed and volume that residents accused local officials ofopening a water reservoir in the mountains above.
Federal investigators acknowledged Sunday that water hadbeen released from the reservoir, but they said it did not cause the flooding.
The Interior Ministry said Sunday that 150 bodies had beenrecovered, 139 of them in Krimsk, a town of 57,000 people.
Many people were asleep when the flooding hit late Fridayand early Saturday.