One person was killed and several houses destroyed on Monday after a temporary plug in the locks of a shipping canal north of St Petersburg was washed away, a state safety committee in Russia's Karelia region said.
Seven people were rescued from the floodwaters of the White Sea—Baltic Canal, a 141-mile-long (227-kilometre) shipping lane which connects the Arctic's White Sea to the Gulf of Finland in St Petersburg, the committee said in a post on the VKontakte social network.
It said the flooding began after a temporary plug eroded during reconstruction work, adding that authorities were working to clarify what had happened.
Video footage published by Russian media showed the canal transformed into a surging river, propelling tree branches and other wreckage downstream.
Rescuers were still searching for two women, the committee said.
Reuters
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