MOSCOW: A major flood in the city of Orsk that forced several thousand people to evacuate after a dam burst has created a “critical” situation, Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov said on Sunday.”A critical situation has developed in the city of Orsk” in the southern Urals close to the border with Kazakhstan, he said from the city of 200,000 people.More than 4,500 homes have been flooded and more than 4,000 people evacuated from Orsk to temporary housing centres, Kurenkov said.Images diffused on the Telegram social media channel showed the minister on a small boat surrounded by members of the emergency services.Torrential rain caused the dam in the Orenburg region to burst on Friday night.Authorities have opened a criminal case for “negligence and violation of construction safety rules” over the burst dam, which was built in 2014.They have warned of a dangerous water level on the Ural river in the main city of Orenburg.
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