Russian flood situation 'critical' in Orsk after burst dam

A major flood in the city of Orsk that forced several thousand people to evacuate after a dam burst has created a "critical" situation, Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov said on Sunday.

More than 4,500 homes have been flooded and more than 4,000 people evacuated from Orsk to temporary housing centres, Kurenkov said.Torrential rain caused the dam in the Orenburg region to burst on Friday night.

The dam was built to manage a 5.5-metre water level in the Ural river but that has swelled to nine metres. Neighbouring Kazakhstan has also been affected by the floods with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev saying they were one of the country's worst natural disasters in 80 years.Several regions in the Urals and western Siberia have been affected by floods since the start of spring.