Floods kill four Romanians, hundreds evacuated

BUCHAREST, June 21 (Reuters) Four people were killed and several were missing after torrential rains flooded villages across Romania, officials said today.

They said the rains have also forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, mostly in northern Romania, over the past 24 hours.

''We have four victims and several persons are missing ...

There are six villages affected in the county of (northern) Bistrita Nasaud and hundreds of households were flooded,'' Mica Oprea, the government's representative in the region, told Reuters.

Deputy Interior Minister Paul Dobre said rescue workers have evacuated 549 persons, most of them in Bistrita Nasaud county,and that 10 villages were isolated by the rain water.

Nearly 1,140 houses were also partly damaged, Dobre added.

Romania was worst hit by Danube river floods in recent months when 15,000 people were evacuated and preliminary estimates put losses in farming, forestry and fishery at around 24 million lei (8.58 million dollars).

REUTERS SHR RS1532