Thousands evacuated as Russia’s flooding worsens after Orsk dam collapses

Thousands of people have been evacuated in Russia’s southwestern region after a dam burst in the city of Orsk worsened flooding, officials said.

Heavy earth-moving equipment is on the scene trying to strengthen the dam.

Earlier, a state of emergency was declared across the Orenburg region after melting ice caused water levels in the Ural River to rise dangerously.

Officials say 10,000 residents could be in flooded areas and up to 4,000 homes could be flooded.

“Work continues in the area of ​​the Orsk dam failure,” Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said in a statement, adding that around 440 people and 217 pieces of equipment were involved in the work.

Officials said more than 1,100 residents of Orsk had been evacuated, with thousands more in the wider region.

“Residents of Leninsky and Sovetsky districts of Orsk city have been evacuated to temporary accommodation centers,” the district prosecutor’s office said in a message.

Emergency officials said three people were found dead after patrolling the flooded area, but their deaths are not believed to be directly related to the flooding.

Orsk Mayor Vasily Kozpitsa said the situation was “rapidly deteriorating” and that half of the city’s Old Town district was flooded and the rest could soon be cut off from the rest of the city. Stated.

Local emergency services said they were working to contain flooding in Orsk, about 1,800 kilometers southeast of Moscow.

The population of Orsk is approximately 230,000. Evacuees are being transferred to nearby schools.

Unverified footage posted on the messenger app Telegram showed water gushing out of cracks in the earthen dam.

The region, which includes Orsk, Orenburg, other Ural regions and parts of neighboring Kazakhstan, has been hit by widespread flooding in recent days.

Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev said the floods could be the country’s worst natural disaster in 80 years.