100 missing in hydropower dam collapse

100 missing in hydropower dam collapse

Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after a partly-constructed hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed, sending flash floods surging through six villages, state media reported Tuesday.

Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and there are several dams being built or are planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand.

Laos News Agency said the accident happened at a hydropower dam in southeastern Attapeu province’s Sanamxay district late Monday, releasing five billion cubic metres of water — more than two million Olympic swimming pools — which unleashed flash flooding coursing into nearby villages.

The report added that there were “several human lives claimed, and several hundreds of people missing”.

Images published in the report showed scores of people, some clutching young children, crammed onto low-slung wooden boats and wading through muddy waters.

Several houses in the southern part of the district were swept away following the dam’s collapse around 8pm (1300 GMT) on Monday evening, the report said, as officials in the province put out a call for relief aid for flood victims.

“We do not have any formal information yet about any casualties or how many are missing,” an Attapeu official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that was “no phone signal” in the flooded region.

“We sent rescue teams who will help them and provide basic assistance first,” the official added.

When contacted by phone in Laos’ capital Vientiane a company official told AFP: “We do not have any official reports about it yet. We are gathering information.”