MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. The number of people that have been hospitalized in the flooded Kherson Region settlements following the collapse of the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant has risen to 60, a regional official said on Thursday.

"It has reached 60 now. As a rule, they are people with limited mobility, old people," regional Deputy Governor Tatyan Kuzmich said on Rossiya-24 television.

She said the number keeps rising. Previous reports said 41 people were taken to hospitals.

According to the official, about 4,000 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas to date, and the number may soon increase to 5,000.

About 1,000 people have moved to temporary accommodation centers, which have the capacity to hold up to 5,000 people, she said. Medical and social workers are providing care at the centers.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces inflicted a missile strike on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the morning of June 6, destroying its valves and prompting an uncontrolled release of water. The water level in Novaya Kakhovka rose as high as 12 meters, before starting to subside. Thirty-five settlements and areas have been affected by floodwaters. Residents of nearby settlements are being evacuated. Officials said 5 people were killed by the flood. The destruction of the dam has caused serious damage to the environment, washed away farmlands along the Dnieper and raised the risk of the North Crimean Canal drying up. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the attack on the Kakhovka HPP a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine and said that the Kiev regime should be held responsible for the consequences.