4,000 Russians evacuated after dam burst

MOSCOW — Russia had evacuated more than 4,000 people in the Orenburg region, in the southern Urals near Kazakhstan, due to flooding after a dam burst.

Emergency services had been working through the night after a dam burst in the city of Orsk, near the border with Kazakhstan.

The news service of the Orenburg governor said on Saturday that"4,208 people, including 1,019 children" had been evacuated and more than 2,500 homes were affected by flooding after a dam burst on Friday following torrential rain.

On Sunday, Russia's government declared flood-hit areas in the Orenburg region a federal emergency, state media reported.

Russia opened a criminal case for "negligence and violation of construction safety rules" over the burst dam, which was built in 2014.

Orenburg regional governor Denis Pasler said specialists assessed that the dam was built "for a different weight" and that the level of rainfall was "exceptional".

Authorities said the situation was difficult throughout the region, warning of a dangerous water level on the Ural river in the main city of Orenburg.

The mayor of the city of 500,000 people, Sergey Salmin, said authorities would forcibly evacuate people from flooded zones if they refused orders to leave.

High water level

The situation around flooding in the city remained "critical", and water levels would continue to rise in the coming days, he said on Sunday.

He had named several districts of the city and nearby villages likely to be affected.

"The situation leaves you no choice. At night, the river can reach a critical level," he said. "I call on everyone in the flooded zone to leave their houses immediately.

"There is no time for convincing," he added, saying that "those who refuse to leave the danger zone voluntarily, we will forcibly evacuate with the help of police officers".

The Ural mountain region of Orenburg, along with other nearby Russian provinces and parts of neighboring Kazakhstan, has been hit hard by flooding along the Ural river in recent days, forcing at least 2,000 people to evacuate their homes.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the floods were one of the worst natural disasters in Kazakhstan in 80 years.

He called for authorities in the Central Asian country to be ready to help those affected.

Russian emergency services published images of rescue workers going through villages on boats and hovercraft.

Agencies Via Xinhua