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Report: Iraq dam could collapse, kill 500,000 Adam Doster The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) published a report Tuesday arguing that Iraq’s largest dam is in jeopardy of collapsing, an event that could unleash a 65 foot wave of water on Mosul, flood the Tigris River south to Baghdad and kill as many as 500,000 people. "In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world," the corps said. "If a small problem [at] Mosul Dam occurs, failure is likely." Iraq contends there is no cause for alarm because officials are taking new precautions, such as “reducing the water levels in the reservoir.” But the US-funded reconstruction project, which costs $27 million, has yet to solve the dam's problems significantly.
In September 2006, the US Army Corps of Engineers determined that the dam, 45 miles upstream of Mosul on the River Tigris, “presented an unacceptable risk.” This May, the top military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, and US ambassador Ryan Crocker wrote a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister al-Nouri Maliki urging him to fix the "national priority." "Assuming a worst-case scenario,” they wrote, “an instantaneous failure of Mosul Dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave 20m deep at the city of Mosul, which would result in a significant loss of life and property.” According to the BBC, the SIGIR found failures in a number of the 21 contracts awarded to repair the dam, such as faulty construction and delivery of improper parts. Read the whole story HERE. The following video is from CBS's Evening News and The Associated Press, broadcast on October 30 and 31, 2007.
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