Storms and floods in western Ukraine and neighbouring Romania have killed 26 people, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands and damaged scores of bridges, officials said Monday. Romanian President Traian Basescu warned the region faced an "ecological disaster" if lakes containing potentially lethal mining waste were allowed to overspill in the north of his country.
Fifteen people were killed in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in southwest Ukraine while seven people were killed in Chernivtsy, the emergency situations ministry said in a statement.
Rescuers evacuated more than 19,800 people from their homes because of the severe storms and floods that also hit northeastern Romania, the ministry said. More than 40,000 houses and 34,000 hectares of farmland remained partially flooded on Monday in Ukraine, while more than 900 bridges and hundreds of kilometres (miles) of roads were damaged.
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Basescu warned that a totally different kind of disaster could still be to come as waste lakes in the north of the country threatened to burst their banks. "A breach has formed in the Lake Colbu 2's protection dyke and the water containing the residue of heavy metals and probably of cyanide, has poured into Lake Colbu 1, posing a threat for the entire region," he said. "We must act quickly to make sure that this second dam doesn't give way as well, if not we risk being confronted by an ecological disaster."
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http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Disaster_warning_after_floods_kill_26_in_Ukraine_and_Romania_999.html
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