More forced out as Danube floods

The Danube's defences have crumbled under the weight of water

Hundreds more people in Romania have been forced out of their homes after the swollen Danube river again burst its banks at several spots.

Overnight, 580 people fled the town of Ostrov in the south-east, and 1,000 people are preparing to leave the towns of Dabuleni and Corabia in the south.

Thousands of people already evacuated are spending their fourth day in tents.

Heavy rains and melting snow have fed into the Danube. It has carried twice its normal volume for more than a week.

Ukraine and Bulgaria, and earlier Serbia, Hungary and Austria have also suffered some of the worst flooding in memory.

Click here for map of affected region

The Romanian government reported on Thursday that 16,000 people had been evacuated since the floods hit in early April, and 148 communities had been affected.

Army tents are now home for this mother and baby in Chiselet

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and more than 500km (300 miles) of roads have suffered flood damage.

President Traian Basescu visited the southern town of Calarasi, where 3,000 people are reported to be living in army tents.

"We thank God because we were able to flee... we could have died in the waters," said Ioana Vasile, 57, according to the Associated Press news agency.

"I hope we get some toilets soon because I have to go in the fields and I'm scared of snakes."

In Spantov, south-east of the capital Bucharest, sheep and donkeys are mingling with adults and crying children in tent camps, reports AP.

And Chiselet, a town also in the south which once housed 3,400 people, now lies in ruins.

Watching the water

Residents in other towns were watching anxiously as the river continued to rise.

Goats and sheep have also fallen prey to the floods

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," Alexandru Tiganila, 47, told AP in the village of Manastire.

"If it floods, hundreds of houses will be under water here."

In the eastern town of Galati, the river was at a new record level of more than 6.5m (22 ft).

Romania's interior ministry says nearly 4,000 police, soldiers, emergency workers and other staff have been deployed to assist the rescue effort, and that measures were being taken to stop disease spreading.

The prime minister has blamed the flooding on the country's system of dykes (artificially constructed embankments), built in the 1960s and 70s under communism in order to reclaim land for agriculture.

About 130,000 hectares (321,237 acres) of farmland and pastures are said to be submerged.

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