Up To 80 People Might Be Inside Facilities Flooded By Dam Collapse - Russian Investigators

Up to 80 people might have been inside employees' dormitories flooded due to a collapse of a dam in Russia's Krasnoyarsk Territory, the regional branch of the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on Saturday

KRASNOYARSK/MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2019) Up to 80 people might have been inside employees' dormitories flooded due to a collapse of a dam in Russia's Krasnoyarsk Territory, the regional branch of the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the regional branch of the Emergencies Ministry said that at 02:00 a. m. on Saturday (23:00 GMT on Friday), a dam on a water reservoir belonging to a gold-mining company collapsed near the settlement of Shchetinkino in the Kuraginsky district. The incident resulted in two temporary dormitories for the mine employees being flooded. The authorities said that at least 12 people were killed in the incident, while at least 10 others were missing. Four people have been hospitalized while 15 others were examined on the site.

"In the nighttime, a service dam collapsed at a gold mine on the river Seyba not far from the settlement of Shchetinkino in the Kuraginsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. As a result, two facilities for employees, inside which up to 80 people might have been present, have been flooded. But the specific number of the people who were there is unclear," the statement read.

The Investigative Committee said that a criminal case was opened over deadly violation of work safety standards.

A group of investigators is working on the site of the incident.

The Emergencies Ministry said that about 270 people and 50 equipment units, including aircraft, were engaged in a search and rescue operation.