Iraq's Mosul dam could face catastrophic collapse - top US general
The US military has a contingency plan to deal with a potential collapse of Mosul dam in northern Iraq which would be catastrophic, the top US general in Iraq said on Thursday.
US Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland said Iraqi authorities understood "the potential" for the collapse of the hydroelectric dam, whose foundation requires constant grouting to maintain structural integrity.
He said the military was working with the government on a plan to protect Iraqi civilians from the impact of a collapse, which would send a surge of water down the heavily populated Tigris river valley.
"The likelihood of the dam collapsing is something we are trying to determine right now ... all we know is when it goes, it's going to go fast and that's bad," MacFarland, head of the US-led coalition bombing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in Baghdad.
