Ukraine dam collapse: People forced to spend the night on roofs, trees due to flooding
Residents in affected areas have started fleeing.
The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine caused people awaiting rescue in affected areas to spend Tuesday night (June 6) on roofs or trees due to flooding. The critical dam along the Dnipro River in the parts of Ukraine's Kherson region now held by Russia, collapsed on Tuesday, flooding a swathe of the war zone along the frontline. It is not yet clear who was responsible.
Satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed houses and buildings submerged, with many showing only their roofs, and water taking over parks, land and infrastructure. And many such people slept on roofs and sat on trees, waiting to be rescued, the news agency Reuters reported.
A roof of a house could be seen whisking in the torrent of the Dnipro River.
42,000 people at direct risk from flooding: Ukraine
The Ukrainian government estimated that around 42,000 people are at direct risk from flooding which is expected to peak on Wednesday, and hundreds and thousands would be left without access to drinking water.
In a statement, the agriculture ministry said the disaster would cut off the water supply to 31 irrigation systems in the Ukrainian regions of Dnipro. The dam's destruction has left 94% of irrigation systems in Kherson, 74% of those in Zaporizhzhia, and 30% in Dnipro regions without water, the ministry added.
Residents in affected areas have started fleeing, carrying children on their shoulders, dogs in their arms, and belongings in plastic bags while rescuers used rubber boats to search areas where the waters reached above head height.
Russia imposes state of emergency in controlled parts of Kherson
Russia imposed a state of emergency in the parts of Kherson province it controls, where many towns and villages lie in the lowlands below the dam. Speaking to Reuters, some residents said that Russian troops patrolling the streets in waders were threatening civilians who approached.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of sabotaging the Nova Kakhovka dam to distract attention from a new counter-offensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said, "the whole world will know about this Russian war crime," and called the dam's collapse "an environmental bomb of mass destruction".
(With inputs from agencies)
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