In pictures: North Korean floods

North Korea has made a rare plea for outside help after large parts of the country were submerged by some of the worst floods in years.

The capital Pyongyang, where the Taedong-gang river burst its banks, was among the places hit.

Some of the country's infrastructure, like this riverside road, was damaged in severe storms that hit a week ago, and the flooding that followed.

Official media said the rains were the heaviest ever recorded in some parts of the country. Local people joined attempts to repair the damage.

The country is one of the world's poorest. Displaced people in the outskirts of Pyongyang have taken refuge beneath tarpaulins or whatever shelter they can find.

However, it is the flooding in rural areas that may have the biggest impact. More than a tenth of the country's farmland has been destroyed, the official news agency says.

The country suffers from regular food shortages. About two million people are thought to have died from famine in the mid 1990s.

The impoverished nation is highly dependent on donated food aid, and has appealed for urgent assistance. Hundreds of people are said to have died already.

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