Conflicting reports on Laos death toll

TSANAMXAI, LAOS: Troops continued searching for survivors in the remote southern tip of Laos yesterday, three days after the collapse of a hydropower dam sent a torrent of water across paddy fields and through villages, as rescuers rushed aid to thousands of villagers.

The scale of the disaster was still unclear, in part because of the inaccessibility of the area and also because reports from the communist country’s state media have been scant and sketchy.

The official Laos News Agency said about 26 people were confirmed dead and more than 130 were missing following the collapse of the dam on Monday, a subsidiary structure under construction as part of a hydroelectric project.

The Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday that more than 3,000 were awaiting rescue from swirling floodwaters.

But yesterday, the newspaper cited Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as saying that only one person had been found dead and all those who sought shelter on trees and the rooftops of submerged houses had been taken to safety.

“His c o mment c o r r e c t e d misinformation carried by many media outlets that reported more deaths,” it said, adding that 3,060 had been made homeless by t he disaster.

A situation report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said roads and bridges were damaged and eight villages had been hit by flash flooding in the province of Attapeu. It said boat and helicopter were the only means of transport to the affected areas.

Schools in safe areas were being used as evacuation centres, and about 1,300 families needed tents for shelter, it said. – Reuters