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The Laotian Prime Minister said today that 131 people are still missing two days after the collapse of a dam in several villages in the south of the country, killing at least 26 people.
In a rare televised press conference of communist leader Thongloun Sisoulith gave the most accurate figure up here for the unaccounted number.
Earlier official reports spoke of hundreds of missing persons in Attapeu province
"One hundred and thirty-one persons were reported missing," he said, adding that all were Lao nationals [19659005]. Little warning of the Flood, which flooded several villages across a vast area with several meters of floodwater.
Two South Korean contractors said they reported damage one day before parts of the Xe-Namnoy Dam broke down Monday and unleashed a wall. Thai consular representative Chana Miencharoen, at the scene of the rescue operation, told AFP that late in the afternoon, Wednesday, 26 bodies were found [19659002] "Seventeen others wounded and hospitalized". floodwater hampered rescue efforts in a remote region of the poor and landlocked countries of Southeast Asia.
The information flowed slowly from Laos while the country, timid by the publicity, was trying to tackle the disaster. 2] The Vientiane Times reports that 3,000 people needed relief Wednesday afternoon, sheltering in trees and rooftops.
Images on Laotian television showed people huddled on rooftops waiting for help. Army and local volunteers lead the rescue effort
Questions began to emerge about the collapse, some displaced saying that they had been warned to leave their homes only hours before the disaster struck
. "Joo Hinla, 68, hails from one of Ban Hin Lath's most affected villages, told AFP from a warehouse stuffed with more than 700 displaced people in a neighboring province."
"All the houses in my village are under water, members of my family are missing, we do not know their fate yet." Hundreds of other displaced people, including women, children and the elderly, were seated on the ground surrounded by plastic bags filled with treasures.
poor but endowed with abundant natural resources, aims to become the "Battery of Asia" allowing dozens of projects of dams financed by foreign capital through its network of rivers.
But fears about the environmental impact of projects are exporting most of their electricity to neighboring Thailand and China is almost non-existent in the country closely controlled
Villagers across the country have been displaced, sometimes several times, to make way for dams whose benefits are mainly appreciated abroad. 002] Once completed, about 90% of the electricity generated by the Xe – Namnoy Dam was destined for Thailand.
The flooded area is accessible only by helicopter and flat-bottomed boats, South Korea sent a rescue team to the area, President Moon Jae-in's spokesman said in Seoul on Wednesday
"Our Government Must Actively Participate in On-Site Relief Efforts Without" Two South Korean companies involved in the $ 1.2 billion project reported that damage had been reported the day before the collapse of the dam following heavy monsoon rains. 1965-19002] SK Engineering & Construction stated that it found that the upper part of the structure was removed around 9:00 pm Sunday.
"We immediately alerted the authorities and started evacuating villagers downstream," the statement said.
Repair work was hampered by rain that damaged the roads, he added. On Monday morning, the water from Xe-Namnoy Dam – one of the two main project dams – was evacuated in an attempt to reduce pressure on the auxiliary structure
. The dam operator, Korea Western Power Co., said that one of the auxiliary dams – "Saddle D" – broke under heavy loads.
But according to a chronology that the firm provided in a report to a South Korean legislator and obtained by AFP, it indicated that "11 centimeters of subsidence had been found in the center of the dam" as soon as Friday.
"It is unclear exactly what caused the dam to fall in some places and where cracks were formed," a spokeswoman for Korea Western Power told AFP.
The 410 megawatt plant supposed to begin commercial operations by 2019.
(This story was not edited by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from one year. syndicated flow.)
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