[ad_1]
Hundreds of people are missing and many have died after the collapse of a hydroelectric dam being built in southern Laos, causing floods that swept homes, reported Tuesday. official media
. the Lao news agency reported. He showed images of villagers wading in muddy muddy waters carrying personal belongings. Others boarded dilapidated wooden boats or settled on the roofs of submerged houses.
Authorities set up boats to evacuate residents of San Sai District, Attapeu province where the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydroelectric dam is located. collapse, reported ABC Laos.
The company building the dam said that heavy rains and floods caused the collapse and that it was cooperating with the Lao government to help save the villagers near the dam. A spokesman for SK Engineering & Construction told Reuters by phone:
The dam collapsed Monday at 8 pm, releasing 5 billion cubic meters of water and several hundred people are being carried missing. The houses were washed away, said the Lao news agency. A video posted by the ABC Laos newspaper on its Facebook page shows villagers who stop to watch the water run off the edge of a river.
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith suspended government meetings. Communist Laos, one of the poorest and most secretive countries of Asia, is landlocked and aims to become the "battery of Asia". In 1965, environmental groups expressed concern over Laos' hydropower ambitions, including concerns over the impact of the dams on the Mekong River, its flora and fauna, and the areas affected by floods. rural.
The collapsed dam was scheduled to begin commercial operations by 2019 and export 90 percent of its energy to Thailand as part of an electricity purchase agreement. between the Xe-Pian-Xe Namnoy Power Company and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. The remaining 10% of the energy will be sold to the local grid
The dam "was fractured and water infiltrated into the downstream sector and up to the Xe River. Pian which is about five kilometers from the dam ". said Kijja Sripatthangkura, chief executive of Ratchaburi Holding Electricity Holding Company
International Rivers said that the accident exposed the "major risks" badociated with some dam designs that are "unable to cope with extreme weather conditions ". Extreme weather events are becoming more prevalent in Laos and the region due to climate change, "International Rivers told Reuters
" This also shows the inadequacy of warning systems for the construction and operation of the dam. The warning appeared to arrive very late and did not ensure that people were warned in advance to ensure their safety and that of their family, "the group said. – Reuters
Source link
