Iraq announced on Tuesday that it has awarded Italian firm Trevi a contract to repair and maintain the country's largest dam, which is in danger of catastrophic collapse, AFP reports.
The Mosul Dam was built on an unstable foundation of soils that erode when exposed to water, and a lapse in maintenance after the "Islamic State" (ISIS) terrorist group seized it in 2014 weakened the already flawed structure.
The dam has long been in danger of collapse, which US officials have warned could send a huge wave crashing into ISIS-held Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, about 40 kilometers away.