SEOUL • North Korea is experiencing a "major and complex disaster", the Red Cross warned after floods killed scores of people and left tens of thousands in need of urgent help.

Rescue workers are struggling to reach stricken communities in the country's far north, where thousands have been left homeless and the risk of disease is looming.

"From what we saw, it is clear that this is a very major and complex disaster," said Mr Chris Staines, who heads a Red Cross delegation in North Korea and has visited the affected areas.

At least 133 people are known to have died after torrential rains led to massive floods that tore through villages, devastating entire communities and washing away buildings.

Hundreds more are missing and 140,000 people are in urgent need of food and shelter.

"The floods came through with such force, they destroyed everything in their path," Mr Staines said. "People were salvaging whatever possessions they could from piles of debris that used to be their homes."

Some 24,000 houses have been destroyed and thousands more damaged, with the full extent of the disaster still emerging as rescue workers battle to reach areas that have been totally cut off, the Red Cross said.

"There was barely a building left unscathed" in some villages on the outskirts of Hoeryong City, Mr Staines said.

"People displaced from the floods are now in a very difficult situation and there are real risks of secondary disasters, particularly relating to people's health," he added.

The disaster is set to worsen the country's food shortages, with around 16,000ha of farmland inundated just weeks before the local maize and rice crops were due to be harvested. "Their loss is another disaster that will be felt in the coming weeks and months," the Red Cross warned.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE