Kakhovka HPP dam break: Mayor of Oleshky reports three dead in flood

Three people have died in the flood in the town of Oleshky in the Kherson region of Ukraine, as per Mayor of Oleshky Yevhen Rishchuk. 

“We’ve already counted one person dead. Two more have just been brought to the hospital. I think there will be many more to come. There’s lots of people chained to their beds, or legless, how can a person without legs climb up to the roof?” Rishchuk told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.

At the same time, the head of the town military administration Tetyana Hasanenko reported that the real number of victims was not yet clear.

Oleshky is occupied by Russian forces. According to Hasanenko, 85% of the town is under water. It’s impossible to evacuate without assistance, so people spend hours on the roofs of their houses, waiting for help to arrive.

Rishchuk noted that by the evening of 7 June Russian servicemen had begun to evacuate people from their roofs.

In the morning of 6 June the Kakhovka HPP dam was blown up. The Ukrainian military accused Russian forces of carrying out the explosion, while Russia responded by accusing Ukraine of doing it. People are being evacuated. 

Russia-appointed “Mayor” of Nova Kakhovka Vladimir Leontyev reported that at least seven residents of the area had gone missing.