19 dead, nearly 50 missing in the Laos Dam Reduce: NPR



[ad_1]

Villagers take refuge on a roof over the floodwaters of a collapsed dam in southeastern Laos on Tuesday after the rupture of a newly constructed hydroelectric dam in southeastern Laos.

AP


hide the legend

subtitle

AP

Villagers take refuge on a roof over flood waters of a collapsed dam in southeastern Laos on Tuesday after the break-up of a newly constructed hydroelectric dam in southeastern Laos.

AP

Updated at 2:55 am ET

Laotian media reports that 19 people have died and 49 are missing in southern Laos after the collapse of an unfinished hydroelectric dam, releasing a wall of 39, which flooded the villages downstream.

Many people are perched on the roofs to try to escape the floods after Monday's collapse of a dam that is part of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydroelectric project, in the province of Attapeu, southeast, near Cambodia

. District Governor Bounhome Phommasane said the operation was being deployed for survivors in the Vientiane Times, a state newspaper.

The newspaper, citing unofficial reports from the provincial government, said that about 19 people had been found dead and 49 were still missing.

With a moderate to heavy rain forecast, the governor says the flood level is expected to increase, adding to the many villages affected by the initial dam failure. The provincial authorities cited in the Times state that seven villages were affected

. The official Lao news agency (KPL) has acknowledged that "the disaster has caused several casualties, left hundreds of missing and more than 1300" />
         

Hundreds of people missing after the collapse of a dam in Laos "/>
         

However, a government official who spoke to Reuters from the capital, Vientiane, said, "Dozens are dead."

"We will continue relief operations today. but it's very difficult, the conditions are very difficult, "said the official.

Laos is one of the poorest and most isolated countries of Southeast Asia- East, ruled by one of the few remaining communist governments in the world.In recent years, the country has sought to become "the battery of Southeast Asia" by exploiting its vast river system to produce and sell hydroelectric power to its neighbors

The South Korean partners of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam project discovered that the upper part of the structure had been washed away 24 hours before the collapse, according to AFP via The Bangkok Post.

According to AFP:

"SK E ngineering & Construction, a South Korean builder who is one of the project partners said they discovered damage to an auxiliary dam around 21:00 local time on Sunday.

"We immediately alerted the authorities and started evacuating villagers (nearby) downstream." 1965-1922] SK Engineering reports that the 410 megawatt dam project, worth $ 1.2 billion, is "the first construction-operation-transfer project" (BOT). ) project to be undertaken by South Korean companies in Laos. "It was to start operating next year.

[ad_2]
Source link