After the bursting of a dam in Laos, a rush for food, medicine and coffins

ATTAP, Laos (Reuters) – Rescuers rushed Thursday to join the homeless and stranded people in the southern tip of Laos, three days after the collapse of a partially constructed hydroelectric dam who devastated the rice villages.

The magnitude of the disaster is still uncertain, partly because of the inaccessibility of the area, but also because the media reports of State of the communist country are rare and fragmentary.

A senior Laotian government official told Reuters on Wednesday by telephone from the capital, Vientiane, that dozens of people had died after the failure of the dam, a subsidiary structure under construction under the auspices of the government. a hydroelectric project.

The same day, the Vientiane Times reported that about 19 people had died and more than 3,000 were waiting to be saved, most of them on the roofs of submerged houses.

However, on Thursday, the daily quoted Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as saying that the number of missing was 131, that only one person had been found dead and that all those who sought refuge on the roofs and trees had been made safe.

"His comment corrected the misinformation conveyed by many media that reported more deaths," the Vientiane Times said in the report on its website.

According to a status report by the United States Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, roads and bridges were damaged and eight villages were hit by sudden floods after the dam broke in the province. ; Attapeu. He said that the boat and the helicopter were the only means of transport in the affected areas.

Schools in safe areas were used as evacuation centers, and about 1,300 families needed tents to shelter, according to the report.

On the road to the small town of Sannamxai, in the most affected area, Reuters saw Norwegian aid trucks carrying help, including fresh water and blankets.

Phra Ajan Thanakorn, a Buddhist monk returning from Sannamxai, said that he had delivered food and medicine in four pickups from Vientiane and that he was going there to have more.

"The situation is really bad," he told Reuters. "All the relief efforts are in Sannamxai, there are volunteers who distribute food and medicine for the survivors every day, they still lack food, medicine and coffins."

AMBITIONS "BATTERY D & ASIA "

State media said Wednesday that a team of Chinese and Lao rescuers was heading to Attapeu, a predominantly agricultural province bordering Vietnam. East and Cambodia to the south.

He was showing a long line of cars with boats on trailers from northeastern Thailand. South Korea and Singapore have also offered to help in the rescue effort.

Laos, one of the poorest countries in Asia, has the ambition to become the "battery of Asia" through the construction of several dams.

His government relies almost entirely on outside developers to build dams as part of trade concessions that involve the export of electricity to more developed neighbors, including power hungry Thailand.

Laos has completed the construction of 11 dams, says the Thai non-governmental group TERRA, with 11 more under construction and dozens planned.

Human rights groups have repeatedly warned against the human and environmental cost of dam management, including the damage to the already fragile ecosystem of rivers. the region.

The dam that collapsed was part of the $ 1.2 billion Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy energy project, which involves Laotian, Thai and South Korean companies. Known as "Saddle Dam D", it was part of a network of two main dams and five subsidiary dams.

The main project partner, SK Engineering & Construction of South Korea, said that part of a small supply dam was washed away and that the company was cooperating with the Government of Laos to help save the villagers.

The company blamed the collapse on heavy rains. Laos and its neighbors are in the middle of the monsoon season which brings tropical storms and heavy rains.

A SK Engineering & Construction official said fractures were found on the dam on Sunday and that the company ordered the evacuation of 12 villages as soon as the danger became clear.

(GRAPH: Map Locating Collapsed Dam in Laos: tmsnrt.rs/2JLQY4F)