An engineer has been arrested in connection with a reservoir breach in Dagestan.
The Gedzhukh reservoir was poorly maintained, and the operating organization failed to take action when there was a threat of a dam break, according to investigators. An engineer from the organization responsible for the safety of the structure, OOO Dziv-2, has been arrested for two months.
As "Caucasian Knot" reported, in Dagestan an engineer from a commercial organization has been detained. He was supposed to monitor the safety of the operation of the Gedzhukh reservoir dam.
On April 6, the Gedzhukh dam collapsed in the Derbent district of Dagestan. 350 residents of the village of Mamedkala and surrounding villages were evacuated. The floodwaters swept several cars off the highway, killing at least four people. The total death toll from the flood in Dagestan has reached six.
The engineer responsible for the safe operation of the Gedzhukh Reservoir has been taken into custody.
The Sovetsky District Court of Makhachkala considered the investigator's petition to impose a preventive measure against the engineer of the Gedzhukh Reservoir hydraulic structure, OOO DZIV-2, who is responsible for the safe operation of the reservoir. The detainee is suspected of violating safety regulations during construction or other work, which resulted in the death of two or more people through negligence, and violating environmental protection regulations during work, which resulted in significant harm to nature or human health (Part 3 of Article 216 and Article 246 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
According to investigators, the lessee and operator of the hydraulic structure, despite the unsatisfactory condition of the structures and numerous violations recorded in the safety declaration, failed to correct the deficiencies for a long time, providing the regulatory authority with false information about the facility's operability.
"Under unfavorable hydrometeorological conditions and the state of emergency in effect in the republic during a period of large-scale flooding, the organization failed to take the necessary safety measures. This, according to investigators, led to the destruction of the Gedzhukh Dam on April 5, 2026, leading to widespread flooding, loss of life, and significant property damage," the joint press service of the courts of Dagestan reported.
The court remanded the suspect in custody for two months, that is, until June 10, 2026.
The court ruling has not entered into force and can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Dagestan.
Flooding caused by heavy rains has been ongoing in the North Caucasus since late March, and has become some of the most destructive in recent years. The disaster has caused the greatest damage in Dagestan and Chechnya, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Spring Flooding in the North Caucasus - 2026." Six people have died in the flooding in Dagestan, five of whom died in the village of Mamedkala and its surrounding areas: a pregnant 17-year-old local woman, a 12-year-old child, a five-year-old girl and her grandmother, and 70-year-old Aminat Musayeva, who had been missing for three days. Earlier, on April 5, in the village of Kirki in the Kaytag District, Kistaman Mazanova, a member of the local village council, died after a house was destroyed by a landslide. Authorities reported payments of one million rubles to the families of the victims.
The Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences linked regular flooding in Dagestan to a combination of natural processes and anthropogenic impacts, which increases the scale of natural disasters and increases the risks for people.
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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/422394
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