Floods hit Russia

Russia has evacuated more than 4,000 people in the Orenburg region near the Kazakhstan border due to flooding after a dam burst.

The Orenburg governor’s office said on Saturday that “4,208 people, including 1,019 children” had been evacuated and more than 2,500 homes were affected by floods that caused the dam to give way on Friday following torrential rain.

Governor Denis Pasler said the flood had reached its ‘peak’, adding that the situation was especially difficult in Orsk, a border city of 230,000 people.

Video footage published by the emergency services ministry showed residents being helped into lifeboats, wearing life jackets. 

Thousands of homes were submerged, Russian news agencies reported.