At least 50,000 people were chased from their homes by floodwaters in central Myanmar after a dam failed, inundating several towns Wednesday.
The dam sent water rushing into the town of Swar at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, prompting a major response just days after authorities inspected the dam and said it was safe, Reuters reported. In addition to those forced to leave their homes as floodwaters invaded, many others evacuated because they were fearful the flooding would worsen, the report added.
"We don’t have exact data about the number of victims, but the water has hit villages where more than 50,000 people live," Ministry of Social Welfare Director Phyu Lae Lae Tun told the French Press Agency, as reported by the Guardian.
No deaths have been confirmed in the flooding, but an official in the town of Yedashe told Reuters that two people swept away in the floodwaters remain missing, and they're unsure if anyone else was trapped in the town as the water rose. Fire officials also shut down the Yangon-Mandalay bridge, a key thoroughfare in the region, because flooding had risen to dangerous levels, according to the Times of Malta.
Water levels have been high in central Myanmar because of monsoon rains that left 100,000 homeless and killed at least 11 people in July, the Times of Malta also said.
The flooding began to recede Wednesday afternoon, but residents assessed the widespread damage as they returned. Farmer Aung Aung, who fled his home as fast as he could to escape the floodwaters in the town of Kone Gyi Lan Sone, told Reuters he suffered huge losses
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