Iraq and US warn Mosul residents of possible dam collapse

World Today

The United States and Iraq hosted a meeting of senior diplomats and U.N. officials last Wednesday to discuss the possible collapse of the Mosul hydro-electric dam, which U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said would create a catastrophe of “epic proportions.”

CCTV’s Kate Parkinson filed this report.  

Mosul dam has sustained structural flaws since its construction in the 1980s. If it collapsed, a wall of water would flood the heavily populated Tigris River valley.

The Iraqi government and the U.S. embassy in Baghdad warned residents along the Tigris river of a possible collapse of the Mosul Dam. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked Mosul residents along the Tigris river to move at least six kilometers (3.7 miles) away from its banks in a statement released earlier.

In a similar statement, the U.S. embassy released last month in Baghdad called the dam’s risk of collapse “serious and unprecedented.”

“Prompt evacuation offers the most effective tool to save lives of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,” the U.S. embassy statement continued, estimating that floodwaters could kill nearly 1.5 million Iraqis living along the Tigris.

While U.S. officials have long issued warnings regarding Mosul Dam, the statements are the strongest public warnings to date.

Story by the Associated Press and Reuters.