DUSHANBE, May 16, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The death toll in Tajikistan from various disasters that hit the country in April and May this year has risen to 21 as a three-year-old baby boy Emomrasoul Arabov was killed by mudslide in Khatlon’s Panj district on May 14, according to the Committee for Emergency Situations (CES).

“The tragedy occurred in the village of Tojikiston in the Namun jamoat.  The three-year-old Emomrasoul was playing when the mudslide swept through the village,” the CES source said.

He said 21 people died in separate mudslides and avalanches during the period from April 19 to May 15 in Tajikistan.

According to the preliminary data, damage caused by natural disasters to the country in April-May this year has amounted to 60 million somonis (equivalent to more than 14 million U.S. dollars), the CES source said.