The Ural River dike breach in the city of Orsk in Russia's Orenburg region on April 5 is taking a turn for the worse.
A federal state of emergency has been declared across the Orenburg region in Russia's Urals region as flooding continues to worsen in and around the city of Orsk following the collapse of a dam on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported on April 7.
The number of flooded homes in the region rose from 4,400 on Saturday to 6,600 on Sunday as the Ural River continued to rise. Around 4,000 residents were evacuated from their homes across the region.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov to Orsk on Sunday amid the worsening situation," the Kremlin said.
Minister Kurenkov described the situation as "very serious".
Orsk is the second city of the Orenburg region and has a population of about 200,000 people.
The city's old town is now completely underwater and can only be reached by boat, TASS news agency reported.
Telegram channel 112 said that so far four people have died and 66 others have been injured in the floods, although local authorities in the area denied these figures.
The dam in Orsk collapsed on Friday evening after torrential rains affected large parts of the Urals, western Siberia and neighbouring Kazakhstan, where the flooding was described as the worst natural disaster in 80 years.
Authorities have opened a criminal case of negligence for causing the dam collapse, which despite being only a decade old appears to have been insufficiently filled.
Some pictures of the current situation in Orsk city:
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