A state of emergency has been declared after severe flooding triggered by a dam burst and typhoon aftermath led to the evacuation of several regions in eastern Russia, officials said.

The water level was rising rapidly and the situation is “tense,” Oleg Mitrofanov, the mayor of the eastern Russian town of Spassk-Dalny, wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

Other towns were also affected in the Primorsky Krai region, which borders China in the country’s far east.

In the past few days, the region had been affected by typhoon Khanun, which also raged in Japan.

The coastal areas of Primorsky Krai border the Sea of Japan or East Sea.

A state of emergency had now been declared in nine towns in Primorsky Krai.

Videos on social networks showed masses of water flowing through streets.

In some videos, rescue workers were seen using rubber dinghies to save residents.

Earlier, there had been heavy rains, especially near the town of Ussuriysk, further to the south-west and 100 kilometres north of Vladivostok.

Authorities said 133 millimetres of rain had fallen by Saturday morning, more than the region normally gets in a month.

As a result, a dam that was built to prevent floods burst, causing the levels of the Rasdolnaya and Rakovka Rivers to rise by 300 and more than 400 metres, respectively.

It was initially unclear how many people had to be brought to safety.

The number of people injured was also unknown.

(dpa/NAN)