More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from a flood-affected area after a dam collapsed on Friday in the Orenburg region of Russia, according to regional authorities. The incident occurred during the snowmelt season.
The press office of regional governor Denis Pasler announced that "4,208 people have been evacuated, including 1,019 children." Authorities reported that "the waters flooded" just over 2,500 homes in this border area with Kazakhstan.
In a separate post, Pasler stated that evacuees would be moved "to temporary shelter centers," announcing exceptional financial assistance. The dam, which partially collapsed, was officially designed to be at a level of 5.5 meters above the Ural River's normal level, but it currently reached 9.6 meters, according to regional authorities.
Regional officials also pointed to snowmelt, which caused river levels in the area, including the Ural River, to rise, as an additional "cause" of the flooding.
