Second levee bursts in flooded Russian city (VIDEO)

A second levee has ruptured due to high waters in the southern Russian city of Orsk in Orenburg Region, the country’s Emergencies Ministry announced on Saturday. The city was hit by a flood on Friday that caused a levee to break after the Ural River rose to dangerous levels, prompting a state of emergency to be declared across the region.

The ministry said it had deployed additional forces to the affected area ahead of the dam burst, while the evacuation of local residents was still ongoing.

While the ministry did not provide exact details, the rupture of the levee apparently occurred in the in the village of Nickel, a northeastern suburb of Orsk. Unverified footage circulating online shows water flowing through a large hole in the dam. Ahead of the rupture, water was overflowing along most of the stretch of the levee.

Over 2,500 houses have been flooded, while more than 4,000 local residents were evacuated after the first levee collapsed overnight. Several leaks were discovered at the site on Friday, shortly before the major rupture, which affected the old part of the city. Thus far, the extent of the damage caused by the bursting of the second levee remains unclear.