In Mosul, a disaster waiting to happen; 7 million lives at risk

Los Angeles : If the world is fearing death by nukes triggered by World War 3 relax, there is another growing concern among residents in Mosul.

According to experts, the Mosul dam is slowly sinking and is on the verge of collapse. They believe if the dam bursts or face just a partial breach then it could create a wave 82ft high sparking fears that 7million lives are at risk if it breaks.

The experts also claim that there would be a flood of catastrophic nature even if just 26 per cent of the dam collapse. The floods may trigger floods with the equivalent of 4,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools gushing down stream.

The waves will hit Mosul at 82ft high 100 minutes after breaching the wall and they will reach Baghdad 3.5 days later with a 26ft wave destroying the complete city.

According to the European Commission’s Science Centre, entire cities, towns, villages and farmland along 434 miles of the River Tigris would be flooded. Meanwhile, engineers have been working on saving the dam, however, the scientists warn that the repairs are only temporary.

A professor at Lulea University in Sweden, Nadhir al-Ansari, told media, ‘It is just a matter of time. It will be worse than throwing a nuclear bomb on Iraq. No matter how much grouting and maintenance the company will do, it may expand the life span of the dam, but it is just going to delay the disaster.’

Notably, the dam is 37 miles away from Mosul where Iraqi forces are currently battling with Isis and has been put under the protection of Italian soldiers and Kurish troops for the last 18 months.

The dam was formerly known as ‘Saddam Dam’, and began construction in 1981 but began to erode upon the filling of the reservoir back in 1985.