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The Russian government has evacuated more than 4,000 people from the Orenburg region near the Kazakhstan border due to flooding. This comes after a dam burst, prompting a large-scale response.
On Saturday, the Orenburg governor’s office disclosed that 4,208 individuals, including 1,019 children, had been moved to safety. The incident, triggered by torrential rain causing the dam to collapse on Friday, affected over 2,500 homes. Governor Denis Pasler commented on the severity of the situation, noting that the floodwaters had reached their highest levels. The city of Orsk, home to 230,000 people and situated in the mountainous area of the region, was among the hardest hit, with approximately 2,000 residents evacuated.
🔴 Rusya’nın Kazakistan sınırındaki Orenburg bölgesine bağlı Orsk şehrinde barajın yıkılması sonrası binlerce ev ve iş yeri sular altında kaldı.
— Kerim HAS (@Kerim_HAS) April 6, 2024
Aşırı yağışlar dolayısıyla Ural Nehri üzerindeki barajın yıkılacağı hesap edildiği için şehir, sel felaketi öncesi tahliye edilmişti. pic.twitter.com/RskT6htgbg
Emergency services were seen assisting residents into lifeboats, as thousands of homes were reported submerged. Amid these efforts, Russia initiated a criminal investigation into the dam’s failure, focusing on possible negligence and breaches of construction safety regulations. The dam, constructed in 2014, reportedly suffered from inadequate maintenance, leading to its catastrophic failure.
The incident is part of a wider pattern of spring floods impacting several regions across the Urals and western Siberia, extending even to Kazakhstan.