Key shipping route in northwestern Russia has been closed following the bursting of a sand embankment that flooded the surrounding area and killed three people.
Business newspaper RBC reported that navigation had been “paralyzed” through the 141-mile White Sea Canal linking the White Sea and Lake Onega in Russia’s Karelia region bordering Finland.
The canal, built in the 1930s, is a transit route for around 7 million tons of cargo annually for the cities around the Kola Peninsula, as well as the White and Barents Seas. Cruise ships also operate in the waters toward the Solovetsky Islands archipelago and link the cities of Arkhangelsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara.
However, the canal’s management has temporarily banned vessels moving between locks No. 10 and No. 11 after a torrent of water poured over the temporary barrier between two locks of the canal on Sunday, prompting local authorities to declare a state of emergency.
The head of the Republic of Karelia, Artur Parfenchikov, posted on his VKontakte social-media account on Monday that emergency workers had found the bodies of two people, one woman and one man, and that the water level was continuing to drop.
On Tuesday morning, Parfenchikov said that the body of another woman had been found. The state-run TASS news agency reported that 10 people had been injured and 13 homes destroyed. Newsweek has contacted Parfenchikov for further comment.
Videos shared on social media showed water rushing over what looked like the area where the dam had been placed.
Citing Russia’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot), RBC reported that the canal would be closed until repair work is completed, which includes the construction of a temporary bridge.
A criminal investigation into the dam break had been opened into whether construction safety rules were violated.
A few days ago, heavy rains caused the collapse of a dam in the Kialimskoye reservoir in the Karabash urban district of the Urals region of Chelyabinsk. It sparked flooding in neighboring villages, killing at least one person.
Local residents have complained of a poor response by the authorities and have said they have been forced to pump out the water on their own, according to local news outlet Ura.ru.
In another similar incident, there was widespread flooding in the southern Orenburg region after the collapse of a dam in April, which fully and partially submerged 55 cities and towns and led to the evacuations of thousands of people.
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