[ad_1]
The collapse of a hydroelectric dam under construction in Laos on Monday, which has flooded at least six villages in this small, impoverished Southeast Asian country, has left several dead and hundreds of missing, said Tuesday. the authorities
There are "several dead and hundreds of disappeared", announced the official Laotian agency. Pope Francis sent his "encouragement" to the authorities of this authoritarian communist country, followers of the culture of secrecy, in their "badistance to the victims of this tragedy".
Neighboring Thailand has sent rescue workers to reinforce, but the affected area is surrounded by dense forest, complicating operations.
The dam is located on a tributary of the Mekong River in Attapeu Province, southeast of Laos. It collapsed Monday evening, releasing five billion cubic meters of water, the equivalent of more than two million Olympic swimming pools.
Some 6,600 people were also homeless on Tuesday night and the authorities were trying to evacuate them.
The main Thai operator of the project, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, reported receiving a report from the dam operator, the Xe-Pian-Xe Namnoy Power Company (PNPC), confirming that a dam was auxiliary 770 meters long "collapsed". "The accident was caused by continuous rains that accumulated large quantities of water in the reservoir" of the dam, says PNPC.
Dozens of homes in the flooded area are totally submerged, from aerial images filmed by rescue. Others, released by the official Laotian agency, show dozens of people, including young children, piled in boats.
A total of 53 South Korean workers who were on site were evacuated, according to Seoul.
Nearly 24 hours after the dam broke, the authorities continued to badess the extent of the disaster.
"We do not yet have official information on the casualties or the number of casualties," said an official in the province of Attapeu on condition of anonymity.
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith is on the spot to supervise the operations, according to the Laotian news agency KPL.
Phnom Pen said he is ready to evacuate residents of the Cambodian province of Stung Trend, bordering the country. Laos, some 70 kilometers from the disaster zone
Dozens of dams, financed mainly by China, are currently under construction in Laos, particularly on the Mekong River.
"Ten are already operational, 10 to 20 more is under construction and dozens more are in the pipeline, "detailed to AFP Toshiyuki Doi, from the NGO Mekong Watch, based in Japan.
-" Battery of Southeast Asia "- [19659002] Enclosed in the heart of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos, a small rural state and mo nagnous, aims to become "the battery of Southeast Asia".
Crossed by a vast network of rivers, the communist country now derives from the export of hydroelectric energy a significant source of income, exporting most of the electricity to neighboring countries such as Thailand.
Environmental organizations have repeatedly expressed their concerns about this, highlighting the impact of dams on the Mekong, its flora and fauna, rural populations, often displaced, and the local economies that depend on them
So far, no comprehensive environmental badessment has been carried out.
The Xe-Pian-Xe Namnoy Dam, a project worth more than $ 1 billion, has been under construction since 2013. It is part of a larger project consisting of a series of five river dams Houay Makchanh, Xe-Namnoy and Xe-Pian
It is developed by Xe-Pian-Xe Namnoy Power Company, a joint venture formed by the Thai company Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the Korean company Korea Western Power and the public company Lao Lao Holding State Enterprise.
With a capacity of 410 megawatts, it was to start supplying electricity from 2019, according to the PNPC website. And 90% of the energy produced was to be exported to Thailand, the rest being distributed locally.
Another gigantic project is currently underway in Laos: the Xayaburi hydroelectric dam, built by the Thai group CH Karnchang whose cost is estimated at $ 3.8 billion for a power of 1,285 megawatts. Its construction causes tensions with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia who fear that it will disrupt their ecosystems.
The Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy disaster clearly shows that "these dams pose major risks in the face of extreme weather events like very heavy rains, "said Maureen Harris of International Rivers NGO, interviewed by AFP.
"However, these unpredictable phenomena are becoming more and more common in Laos and the region because of climate change," she added.
© 2018 AFP. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. All information reproduced in this section (news, photos, logos) is protected by intellectual property rights held by AFP. Therefore, none of this information may be reproduced, modified, reposted, translated, exploited commercially or reused in any way without the prior written consent of AFP.
[ad_2]Source link
