Daily Times

Massive flooding from a South Korean-constructed hydroelectric dam in Laos left several people dead and hundreds missing, state media said Tuesday. Rescue efforts were underway as top government officials rushed to the site and public appeals were launched for aid.

The official Lao news agency KPL said the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam in southeastern Attapeu province collapsed Monday evening, releasing large amounts of water that swept away houses, flooded villages and made more than 6,600 people homeless.

A later report on the website of the state-run Vientiane Times newspaper, however, said water had overflowed the dam, rather than bursting it. It said the dam was at risk of collapse, and rain and strong winds predicted for the next few days could make the situation worse.

It said two people were confirmed dead by Tuesday afternoon from flash floods that affected eight villages, and that the government had declared the flooded area an emergency disaster zone.

KPL said the disaster “claimed several human lives” and “left hundreds of people missing,” without providing details.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed people sitting on rooftops to escape the surging water, while others were carried to safety or rescued by boat. State media said helicopters were also being used to rescue people.

The dam was built by a joint venture led by South Korean companies with Thai and Lao partners, and was still under construction. KPL described the portion that reportedly collapsed as a “saddle dam,” which is an auxiliary dam used to hold water beyond what is held by the main dam.

South Korea’s Yonhap News agency quoted an unidentified official at SK Engineering & Construction, one of the two South Korean partners in the project, as saying rain in the area was triple the usual amount, and one of five auxiliary dams had overflowed.

Many areas of Laos have recently been hit by floods from heavy seasonal rains.

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith suspended his government’s planned Cabinet meeting and traveled with fellow ministers and other senior officials to Sanamxay district to monitor rescue and relief efforts, KPL and the Vientiane Times reported.

Provincial authorities issued a call for emergency aid – clothing, food, drinking water, medicine, cash and other items – from the “party, government organizations, business community, officials, police and military forces and people of all strata.”

Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia. It has transitioned from communism to a market economy but remains a single-party state where freedoms are limited. There is virtually no freedom of the press, and foreign reporters who visit operate under tight restrictions, limiting the flow of information.

Electricity from several hydroelectric dams provides a large share of Laos’ export earnings, with Thailand being a major buyer.

Published in Daily Times, July 25^th 2018.