INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
59 people drowned in the days after the June 6 Kakhovka dam breach, which sparked massive floods in the Kherson region over the next 19 days
Oleshky, one of the most-populated places affected by the flooding, health workers said they believed 200-300 people had died there.Oleshky
had a population of 16,000 before the flood.A volunteer who spoke with AP on condition of anonymity said she and her team picked up at least
100 bodies before she was threatened and blocked from collecting any more by the local Russian-installed authorities.The news agency said
the high death toll was partly caused by the authorities downplaying the consequences of the damage, which led residents to believe they
floods.AP was able to confirm the location of at least one mass grave in the yard of a local Orthodox church.Residents, volunteers and
returned on June 9, AP wrote that the authorities strictly forbade doctors at a local hospital from issuing death certificates for drowning
victims, but allowed them for those who died of natural causes.Many of those who were willing to speak with the U.S.-headquartered global
news agency asked for anonymity out of fear of undermining the safety of family members left behind in Russian-occupied territory.
