A group of engineers who formerly worked on the Euphrates Dam warned that the continued military operations in the areas surrounding the Dam close to al-Tabqa city is preventing technical crews from reaching the dam to fix the damages to avoid its collapse.
The engineers warned that the dam equipment requires immediate attention as the water levels in the lake formed behind it continue to increase threatening the lives of around three million people living in the Euphrates valley.
Following a press conference at the headquarters of the Support Coordination Unit in Gaziantep, engineer Haythem Bakour, deputy to the head of the Mechanics Directorate in the Euphrates Dam, said to Zaman al-Wasl that the Euphrates Dam is not a fort but an architectural structure that is used within the rules of natural resource investment. He continued that the Dam can withstand a 7 point earthquake on the Richter scale, but it cannot withstand rockets.
The engineer added that the Dam’s operation room burnt down completely which led to a complete loss of electricity locally and the water levels in the lake behind the Dam began to rise. Also, the suspension frame and the Dam’s rail tracks were damaged due to the fighting and technicians inability to open and close the emergency doors.
Bakour indicated that the engineering and technical teams within the city of al-Tabqa can save the situation but require the fulfillment of two conditions to do so: first that all military operations around the Dam be suspended; second, the maintenance team must be allowed to enter the Dam with all the material necessary to repair the generators, pumps, and other equipment needed to save the dam during the few coming hours.
Bakour warned that the different sides cannot continue to ignore the issue of the Dam for longer as it will lead to its complete collapse and a resulting disaster that will resemble Hiroshima or Nagasaki in scale.
Hawar News subordinate to the Democratic Union Party broadcasted a video showing a team of engineers and Syrian Red Crescent workers visiting the northern entrance of the Euphrates Dam. According to Zaman al-Wasl’s reporter in the area, the team had brought generators provided by UNICEF and opened a spillway to allow water to flow in the direction of the large irrigation water channel north of the dam. The Syrian Democratic Forces stated that the Dam is not in danger of collapsing in contradiction to Islamic State forces warning of the dam’s condition.
Battles of retreat and advance between the Islamic State and the Syrian Democratic Forces in the areas around the Euphrates Dam and al-Tabqa military airbase in al-Raqqah’s western countryside have been ongoing for several days. The Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by International Coalition airplanes, are fighting to impose a siege on al-Tabqa city to isolate it from al-Raqqah city
