Villagers take refuge on a rooftop after a dam collapsed in Attapeu province, Laos. ABC Laos News/Handout via Reuters A hydroelectric dam in southern…
Villagers take refuge on a rooftop after a dam collapsed in Attapeu province, Laos.
ABC Laos News/Handout via Reuters
A hydroelectric dam in southern Laos has collapsed, causing a flash flood that left thousands of people missing and homeless.
The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam in Attapeu province collapsed on Monday night. It released five billion cubic meters of water, the state-run KPL Laos News agency said on Facebook.
That’s enough water to fill more than two million Olympics-sized swimming pools. The deluge caused a flash flood in six nearby villages, which displaced some 6,600 people from their homes and left hundreds missing, KPL reported.
The disaster also killed “several” other people, although a precise death toll has not yet been given.
An official in the province anonymously told Agence France-Presse that authorities do not yet have “any formal information” about casualties or the numbers missing. The official added that there was “no phone signal” in the region.
An aerial video taken of Sen Saeng district, and uploaded by ABC Laos news channel, showed yellowed floodwater engulfing the region’s houses:
A video posted by the news channel also showed villagers, some clutching young children, cramming onto wooden boats to escape. Other images showed villagers taking refuge on their roofs as muddy water swirled around them.
One of the companies in charge of building the dam, South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction, said heavy rain and flooding in the region caused the collapse.
“We are running an emergency team and planning to help evacuate and rescue residents in villages near the dam,” a spokesman for the company told Reuters.
Attapeu Today via AP
The dam project cost an estimated $1.02 billion (£778 million). Construction began in 2013 and commercial operations were expected to begin this year.
Attapeu province officials have urged the central government, police, military, and other Laotians to provide emergency aid to the victims, including food, clothes, drinking water, and medicine.
Displaced villagers have also been seen in temporary shelters in the province.
Villagers evacuate with their belongings on Tuesday.
ABC Laos News/Handout via Reuters
Reuters
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