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LAOS-FLOOD-DISASTER
Rains hamper search for survivors after Laos dam collapse
ATTAPEU , Laos, July 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Rescuers battled fresh rains
Thursday to reach scores of people still missing after a dam collapse in
southern Laos that unleashed a torrent of water, washing away whole villages
and killing at least 26 people.
The search for survivors has been hampered by monsoon weather in the remote
southern corner of Laos where the Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed on Monday.
Panicked residents took flight, taking refuge on rooftops or making their
way to evacuation centres where some said they were given just a few hours’
warning of the looming disaster.
Boats and helicopters were dispatched to find people still trapped by the
widespread flooding that has left at least 131 missing, with road access cut
completely in many areas.
Vietnam dispatched military and medical personnel to support rescue efforts
and Thailand said it was sending close to $150,000 in aid.
China’s foreign ministry also said it was “willing to promptly provide
active support and assistance to the Laos disaster relief work”.
Around a dozen Chinese rescuers in helmets and life jackets joined rescuers
in Sanamxai town Thursday near the dam site, according to an AFP reporter at
the scene.
State media said more than 3,000 people were left homeless by the deluge,
many squeezing into makeshift shelters where they recounted the terrifying
scramble to escape the swirling brown floodwaters.
Tran Van Bien, 47, from Ban May village near the dam collapse said he was
told to evacuate just two hours before the dam burst on Monday evening,
running to a neighbour’s house with his family as his home quickly filled
with water.
“We were on the roof of that house the whole night, cold and scared. At
4:00 am a wooden boat passed and we decided to send my wife and my kid out,”
he told AFP from a nearby village where he eventually found dry land.
“My wife tied our child to her body, saying if they died, they would die
together rather than being alone.”
– ‘Insufficient warning’ –
The $1.2 billion dollar Xe-Namnoy dam, a joint venture between Laos and
Korean companies, was still under construction in southern Attepeu province
when it collapsed after heavy rains pounded the area earlier this week.
Two South Korean companies involved in the project’s construction said
damage was reported a day before the auxiliary “Saddle D” dam collapsed.
However a timeline from operator Korea Western Power Co. obtained by AFP
said 11 centimetres of subsidence was spotted at the dam’s centre as early as
Friday. “It remains unclear what caused the dam to subside in some places and
develop cracks. But all of these happened under heavy rains,” a Korea Western
Power spokesman told AFP.
The 410 MW project is one of more than 50 hydropower plans underway in
Laos, which has billed itself as the “Battery of Asia” in its ambitious bid
to become a major power exporter in the region.
It has said it wants to double its power generation capacity to 28,000 MW
by 2020 and has opened its doors to foreign investors — mainly from China,
Thailand and Vietnam — to build dams on its vast river network.
But the projects have come under fire by rights groups who say local
communities are forcibly displaced and lose key access to river waters for
farming and fishing.
“Many of the people affected by the current dam collapse have already
suffered other impacts due to dam construction. This tragedy has compounded
their suffering,” International Rivers said in a statement Thursday.
“Communities were not given sufficient advanced warning to ensure their
safety and that of their families. This event raises major questions about
dam standards and dam safety in Laos.”
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0946 hrs