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Laos dam collapse: Hundreds missing after flash floods hit villages Laos dam collapse: Hundreds missing after flash floods hit villages
(35 minutes later)
Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number dead after a dam under construction collapsed in south-east Laos, state media reported. Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number are dead after a dam under construction collapsed in south-east Laos, state media say.
The collapse at the hydroelectric dam in Attapeu province late on Monday sent flash floods through six villages, Lao News Agency said. The collapse at the hydroelectric dam in Attapeu province late on Monday sent flash floods through six villages, Lao News Agency reported.
More than 6,600 people have been made homeless, it added.More than 6,600 people have been made homeless, it added.
Pictures showed villagers stranded on the roofs of submerged house and boats carrying people to safety.Pictures showed villagers stranded on the roofs of submerged house and boats carrying people to safety.
"The disaster has claimed several human lives [and] left hundreds of people missing," the agency reported."The disaster has claimed several human lives [and] left hundreds of people missing," the agency reported.
Construction of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy dam began in 2013 and it was due to begin commercial operations next year. Attapeu is Lao's southernmost province, and borders Cambodia and Vietnam.
The main Thai stakeholder in the project, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, said it had received a report from the dam's operator that a "saddle dam", measuring 770m long and 16m high, had collapsed. It is known for agriculture, rich trees and wood-based industries - and hydropower is one of its major exports.
It said continuous rainstorms had led "a high volume of water" to flow into the reservoir. What do we know about the dam - and how did it collapse?
"Currently, Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company Limited and related agencies have evacuated the people who reside around the area," the statement added. The dam that collapsed is part of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project, which involves Laotian, Thai and South Korean firms.
A spokesman for SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean company with a stake in the project, told the BBC a small supply dam - not the main dam - had been partly lost due to "unexpected heavy rainfall". The subsidiary dam, known as "Saddle Dam D", collapsed after "continuous rainstorm[s]" caused a "high volume of water to flow into the project's reservoir", Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the main Thai stakeholder, said in a statement.
"We still don't know the exact cause, but we believe parts of the upper part of the dam were lost... and water overflowed from the supply dam," he said. As a result, the dam "was fractured" and water "leaked to the downstream area and down to Xe-Pian River" about 5km (three miles) away, it added.
Environmental groups have previously expressed fears over Laos's hydroelectric programme and its potential impact on communities and ecosystems downstream of dams. "Saddle Dam D" is 8m wide, 770m long and 16m high - and was designed to help divert water around a local reservoir, the company said.
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has postponed government meetings and gone to the affected area in Sanamxay district with senior officials to monitor relief efforts, state media said. Meanwhile, a spokesman for SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean company with a stake in the project, told the BBC: "We believe parts of the upper part of dam were lost due to heavy rain fall, and water overflowed from the supply dam."
Local authorities have appealed to government bodies and other communities to help provide emergency aid for the victims such as clothing, food, drinking water and medicine. Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding said in a statement that the dam operator and related agencies had helped local residents evacuate to temporary shelter.
It is not clear how much advance warning residents were given.
How many people have been affected?
It is not clear so far, as there is no phone signal in the flooded areas.
"We do not have any formal information yet about any casualties or how many are missing," a local Attapeu official told AFP news agency.
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has postponed government meetings and gone to affected area in Sanamxay district to monitor relief efforts, state media said.
Local authorities have appealed to government bodies and other communities to provide emergency aid such as clothing, food, drinking water and medicine.
Hydroelectric ambitions in LaosHydroelectric ambitions in Laos
Sources: Hydropower.org, the Laotian Times and Lao News AgencySources: Hydropower.org, the Laotian Times and Lao News Agency
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