Kyrgyzstan/Uzbekistan: Dam Burst - Jul 1998

On 8 July 1998, as a result of a melting glacier, the water level in the river Shahimardan, located at the border of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, rose dramatically, and the river flooded the villages of Pulgon, Kadamjai and Kyzyl Bulak in Kyrgyzstan and the village of Shahimardan in Uzbekistan. [...] The preliminary damage assessment is as follows: 42 human causalities (all citizens of Uzbekistan); Several houses destroyed and/or evacuated; A portion of the road washed out; One bridge crashed, and the water supply system in Pulgon village ruined; 30 power poles washed out; 4 power substations put out of operation. (OCHA, 9 Jul 1998)

Five to six hundred people are still missing and feared dead, and many more are homeless after the Ak Su and Shahimardan rivers burst their banks on the Kyrgyzstan/Uzbekistan border on the night of 8 July 1998. At least 90 deaths have been confirmed by authorities in Uzbekistan and at least a dozen in Kyrgyzstan. The waters swept away homes, bridges and power supplies in the Fergana Valley catching people as they lay sleeping in their beds. The Red Crescent Society of Uzbekistan (RCSU) reported only 43 bodies have been identified. The remainder are believed to be holidaymakers who will be difficult to trace. More than 400 people have had their homes swept away and have lost everything. The Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent Society (KRCS) reported 100 people were left homeless when their houses were destroyed with another 100 whose houses were partly damaged. (ICRC, 14 Jul 1998)