Hundreds missing in Laos dam collapse

BANGKOK: Hundreds are missing and an unknown number feared dead after a partly built hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed after heavy rain and sent a wall of water surging through six villages, state media and contractors said yesterday.

Laos News Agency said the accident on Monday evening released five billion cubic metres of water — more than two million Olympic swimming pools.

The agency said several people died and several hundred were missing, while 6,600 people became homeless as authorities scrambled to evacuate villagers.

Communist Laos has a vast network of rivers and several dams are being built or planned in the landlocked country.

Nearly 24 hours later, authorities said they were struggling to gauge the extent of the disaster.

“We do not have any formal information yet about any casualties or how many are missing,” an official in Attapeu province, where much of the flooding occurred, said on condition of anonymity, adding that there was no phone signal in the flooded region.

The Thai government said it would send rescue experts.

Pope Francis said he learned with sadness of the loss of life and expressed solidarity with victims.

The US$1.2 billion (RM4.8 billion) dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, a joint venture formed in 2012 between a Laotian, a Thai and two South Korean companies.