operators say they detected damage a day before

The South Korean group a partner in a hydroelectric project Construction in Laos on Wednesday (July 25th) found that the upper part of an auxiliary dam had been washed away 24 hours before it collapsed.

Several villages were flooded, an unknown number of people perished while there are hundreds of missing. The dam, located on a tributary of the Mekong River in southeastern Laos, collapsed on Monday night, releasing five billion cubic meters of water, the equivalent of more than two million Olympic swimming pools.

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SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean builder who is one of the project partners, said he realized the damage to the upper dam at around 9 pm Sunday. "We immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating the villagers downstream." The company said in a statement.

The repair work undertaken was hampered by heavy rains that damaged the villages. roads. On Monday morning, the operators evacuated water from the Xe-Namnoy dam, one of the two main works of the project, in an attempt to reduce the pressure on the auxiliary structure. Around noon, the government was warned of the increased damage, which led it to issue an official evacuation order for downstream residents. The structure collapsed a few hours later, adds SK Engineering.

Crisis Team

Tuesday morning, seven of the 12 downstream villages were flooded, adds SK. Photos taken from the sky show a gigantic area including houses like the jungle, drowned under the brownish waters. In a video, we can see families perched on the roofs waiting for help. A nearby Buddhist temple is partially submerged.

The South Korean group has announced the dispatch of a crisis team consisting of helicopters, boats and rescuers. "Currently, SK E & C is actively working to save people and badist with repairs with the Laotian government" according to the statement.

Dozens of dams, mostly financed by China, are currently in operation. construction in the poor and landlocked communist country, particularly on the Mekong River. Crossed by a vast network of rivers, Laos derives from the export of hydropower a significant source of income, exporting most of the electricity to neighboring countries like Thailand.

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The $ 1.2 billion project near the Cambodia border has been under construction since 2013. The project includes a series of dams on the Houay Makchanh, Xe-Namnoy and Xe-Pian Rivers.