A burst water main in the south of Amsterdam caused chaos on Tuesday morning, RTL news reports.

Parts of the VU teaching hospital were flooded and some 400 patients are in the dark because the power has been switched off to avoid short circuits, the broadcaster says.

‘Patients are being prepared for an eventual evacuation, should the emergency generator not work,’ a police spokesman is quoted as saying.

The burst main on the Van der Boechorststraat was identified and dealt with around 09.15.

Eyewitnesses told Dutch media that the streets around the leak turned into ‘fast-flowing rivers’.

The S108 ring road exit has been closed because of the water problems and has caused long tailbacks on the A10 itself.

Ondertussen bij t VUMc pic.twitter.com/TPUZzorT4X — lizzy diercks (@lizzydiercks) September 8, 2015