Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after the collapse of a hydropower dam in southeast Laos, state media reported Tuesday.
The accident happened at the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam in the southeastern province of Attapeu late Monday, sparking flash floods in villages in the area and leaving more than 6,000 people homeless.
The dam released five billion cubic metres of water, which is over two million Olympic swimming pools.
Flash floods in six villages in southeastern Attapeu province have left 6,000 people homeless so far and hundreds of people are still missing. Several houses in the southern part of the district were also swept away
Lao villagers are stranded on a roof of a house after they evacuated floodwaters after the Xe Pian Xe Nam Noy hydroelectric dam burst
Hundreds of households have been submerged underwater in villages in the Sanamxay district of the Attapeu province in Laos
Laos News Agency said: ‘several human lives claimed, and several hundreds of people missing.’
Six villages in the Sanamxay district experienced flash floods, including Yai Thae, Hinlad, Mai, Thasengchan, Tha Hin, and Samong. Hinlad and Mai villages were hard-hit.
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith suspended the planned monthly meeting of the government and instead led his cabinet and other officials to the affected areas to monitor the situation and the rescue effort.
Officials in the province put out a call for relief aid for flood victims, and hundreds of people are being evacuated by boats
Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and there are several dams being built or are planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand.
The $1.2 billion dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, a joint venture formed in 2012.
It is not clear what caused the collapse.
The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam project in southeastern Laos has collapsed, displacing hundreds of people in the region. Laos has a vast network of rivers and several other dams are being built or are planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand
Officials have brought boats to help evacuate people in San Sai district of Attapeu province in the southeast of Laos
Among the companies involved in the project according to the Laos News Agency are Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, South Korea’s Korea Western Power and the state-run Lao Holding State Enterprise.
The 410 megawatt capacity dam was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019, according to the venture’s website.
The project consists of a series of dams over the Houay Makchanh, the Xe-Namnoy and the Xe-Pian rivers in neighbouring Champasack Province.
It planned to export 90 percent of its electricity to energy hungry Thailand and the remaining amount was to be offered up on the local grid.
Under the terms of construction, PNPC said it would operate and manage the power project for 27-years after commercial operations began.
The 410 megawatt capacity dam was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019, according to the venture’s website
When contacted by phone in Laos’ capital Vientiane an official told AFP: ‘We do not have any official reports about it yet. We are gathering information.’
Dam projects, mainly providing power to neighbouring countries, have long been controversial as they often displace large numbers of local people.
For example, the hydroelectric project at Xayaburi, led by Thai group CH Karnchang, with a 1,285 megawatt dam – which will cost $3.5 billion according to state media – is at the heart of Laos’ plan to become ‘the battery of Southeast Asia’.
But it has sharply divided several Mekong nations who worry it will disrupt vital ecosystems and their own river systems.
Six Vietnamese workers were killed when a gas cylinder exploded at the construction site of a hydropower plant in central Laos in July last year.
The 410 MW capacity Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Hydroelectric Power Project is being run by Xe Pien-Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC (file photo)
The dam was built to contain and divert the waters of the Houay Makchanh, the Xe-Namnoy and Xe-Pian rivers on the Bolaven Plateau in Champasack Province in southern Laos (file photo)