Russia evacuates 4,000 people after dam bursts, floods near Kazakh border
Al Jazeera
Authorities warn of dangerous water levels on the Ural river and open an investigation into the dam breach.
Russia said it has evacuated more than 4,000 people in the Orenburg region near the Kazakhstan border due to flooding after a dam burst.
The Orenburg governor’s office said on Saturday that “4,208 people, including 1,019 children” had been evacuated and more than 2,500 homes were affected by floods that caused the dam to give way on Friday following torrential rain.
Governor Denis Pasler said the flood had reached its “peak”, adding that the situation was especially difficult in Orsk, a border city of 230,000 people.
Officials said on Saturday that some 2,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Orsk alone. Orsk is located in the Ural mountains’ Orenburg region.
But the authorities said that the situation was difficult throughout the region and warned of dangerous water levels on the Ural river in the main city of Orenburg.
