Three individuals lost their lives in the aftermath of a breached embankment dam in the southern Orenburg region near Kazakhstan, as per CNN’s report referencing the Russian news agency TASS on Saturday. Thousands of residents have been evacuated as the dam in Orsk city failed to contain the surging waters of the Ural River, splitting in two locations, as per local authorities cited by TASS.
Reports indicate that 4,208 individuals, including 1,019 children, have been evacuated in the region, with preparations underway for 495 temporary shelters accommodating 82,200 people, as reported by TASS. As of Saturday morning, the water level of the Ural River was nearly twice the capacity the dam was designed to withstand, according to regional authorities. The dam’s failure resulted from inadequate maintenance of the hydraulic structure, prompting a criminal investigation, stated the regional prosecutor’s office.
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The dam served to shield the city from the Ural River’s waters, but by Saturday morning, water had inundated several city districts, affecting close to 2,400 residential buildings, as per TASS.
“A state of emergency is in effect in Orenburg,” the head of the Orenburg region Sergey Salmin said in a Telegram post Saturday.
“This situation leaves us no choice; overnight the [river] level may reach a critical level. I demand that everyone immediately leave their houses in the flood zone.”
“Those who refuse to leave the danger zone voluntarily will be evacuated forcibly, with the participation of police officers,” he added, CNN reported.
Orsk, a city of 230,000 people, lies near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan.
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