Dambreuk Laos: at least 24 dead, about 100 missing

To date, at least 24 bodies have been found in southeastern Laos, two days after the outbreak of part of a dam and several villages were flooded. According to the Red Cross, nearly a hundred people have been reported missing, reports the AP news agency. Some 6,600 residents reportedly lost their homes.

The bijdam broke on Monday in the southern province of Attapeu. There, a large dam project with a hydroelectric power plant under the direction of a Korean company was built for several years. Due to heavy rains, it had been clear since Friday that the dam had problems. The hydroelectric plant and the main dam are still intact.

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said earlier that 131 people are missing and nearly 3,000 have lost their homes, the Xinhua news agency reported. This news agency is one of the few foreign press organizations based in Laos. The prime minister did not want to give a number of dead.

Social Media Rescue Campaigns

The different accounts may be the result because communication with the region is currently difficult and heavy rainfall makes rescue operations difficult. On social media, images are shared of residents who are stuck on their roofs and must be rescued with helicopters or boats. "The water came so fast that we just left the house and started running," says a victim in front of the AP. "We lost everything."

View images of the disaster of Time:

Hundreds of missing after the collapse of a hydroelectric dam in southern Laos https://t.co/uzik836cX8 pic.twitter .com / X2iALAsujh

– TIME (@TIME) July 24, 2018

The dam should be over one billion boxes and here 2019. Ninety per cent of the energy that the hydroelectric plant would produce was destined for Thailand.