VBIED Targets Mosul Dam - Failure Of This Dam Could Kill Tens Of Thousands
Mosul Dam.
This dam has been in the back of my mind from the time I first learned of it. It has already been declared that a collapse is very possible, and if that were to happen…it would become a deadly wall of water, mud, and debris that would level towns and villages and kill literally tens of thousands of people. I have even heard estimates of 500,000 people living in the flood zone should this dam fail.
MOSUL, Iraq, Dec 17 - A truck packed with explosives blew up on Monday close to Iraq’s largest dam, partly destroying the main access bridge and killing a policeman, police said.
The blast caused no damage to the Mosul Dam itself, which U.S. Army engineers have previously warned is poorly constructed and in danger of imminent collapse.
An engineer at the dam, Abdul-Khalaq Dhanoon, said a section of the 250-metre long metal bridge, which is about 1 kilometre from the dam, had been destroyed in the explosion.
One policeman guarding the bridge was killed and a second seriously wounded, Brigadier-General Abdul-Kareem al-Jubouri, commander of police operations in northern Nineveh province, told Reuters.
Jubouri said the bomber parked his truck near the bridge, telling police that it had broken down and that he need to fetch a tow truck. Shortly after he left the scene it detonated.
The dam, which sits on the Tigris River and holds 12 billion cubic metres of water, could flood two Iraqi cities killing tens of thousands of people if it is destroyed or collapses, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report obtained by the Washington Post in October.
Iraqi officials have tried to play down those warnings as alarmist and said measures were being take to shore up the 3.5 km- (2.2 mile-) long dam that has been weakened by cavities caused by soil being washed out.
The U.S. and Iraqi governments started work to improve the dam in 2005, but the U.S. inspector for Iraq Reconstruction said in October the project had so far failed to improve the grouting programme to fill the cavities under the dam.
(Reuters)
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When it breaks, just remember that it was Bush’s fault!
December 17th, 2007 at 1:30 pmRanger;
Yes, he was warned he had to deploy more grout! And simultaneously build a new dam! And evacuate everyone living near the Tigris! And drain the lake behind the dam!
And did he listen? Nooo….
December 17th, 2007 at 10:51 pmWell, if it goes, I guess it’s God’s will.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:57 am