The Kyzyl-Agash Dam failure ( kk, Qyzylaǵash oqıǵasy), occurred in a dam located outside the village of
Kyzyl-Agash,
Almaty Province,
Kazakhstan. On 11 March 2010, the dam burst, flooding the village. At least 43 people were killed, 211 people were injured, and over 1000 evacuated from the village.
Opposition sources report a much higher figure for the death toll. An opposition newspaper Svoboda Slova reports that at least 200 have died, mostly children and old people, but an exact, official count is prohibited by the administration.
Failure
A failure in the dam caused the
reservoir to burst after torrential rain coupled with a sudden rise in temperature caused early
snowmelt.
The
dam failure unleashed torrents of water about high and washed away a bridge on a main highway connecting
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...
with the city of
Ust-Kamenogorsk
Oskemen ( kk, Өскемен, translit=Öskemen ), or Ust-Kamenogorsk (russian: Усть-Каменого́рск), is the administrative center of East Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan. Population:
Name
The city has two official names. In the ...
near the border with
Russia.
More than 600 emergency service workers traveled to the region to clear the debris and to provide tents and much-needed aid for evacuees. Security in the area was stepped up to deter looters as well. A temporary camp, with a field hospital, was established to look after at least 1000 evacuees from Kyzyl-Agash and the Kazakh military dispatched units to the area to assist. Kazakhstan's
Prime Minister,
Karim Massimov, also traveled to the region to personally supervise the relief efforts.
ordered an investigation into the incident, issuing a statement in which he said: "The general prosecutors or the interior ministry should open a criminal probe against the owner of the reservoir. It should be made responsible for the death of so many people".
The
Interior Ministry
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
has said that Kazakh police detained several regional officials, including the mayor of Kyzyl-Agash.
The government allocated 600 million
tenge
The tenge ( or ; kk, теңге, teñge, ; Currency symbol, sign: ₸ ; ISO 4217, code: KZT) is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tiyn ( kk, тиын, tıyın also transliterated as ''tiyin'').
History
After the breakup of th ...
($4.1 million) to provide compensation to people affected by the disaster and to deal with its effects.
The day before, another dam was washed away in the nearby
Karatal District
Karatal District ( kk, Қаратал ауданы, ) is a district of Jetisu Region in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Euro ...
. The village Zhybulak was flooded, and many of the 820 residents of the flooded 140 homes had been evacuated into a nearby school.
References
{{reflist
2010 natural disasters
2010 floods in Asia
Dam failures
Floods in Kazakhstan
2010 disasters in Kazakhstan
Dams in Kazakhstan