Deadly dam collapse

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

The Laos News Agency said the accident happened on Monday evening near the border with Cambodia, releasing five billion cubic metres of water – more than two million Olympic swimming pools.

The agency said several people were killed and hundreds missing.

About 6,600 others had been made homeless as authorities scrambled to evacuate villagers.

Aerial footage posted on the Facebook page of news outlet ABC Laos showed a vast brown inundation swamping houses and jungle alike over a huge area.

Another video showed families waiting for rescue on the rooftop of their house, with a nearby Buddhist temple partially submerged.

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

The 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, according to the project’s website.

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the Thai company, said it had been told by operators that a 770m-long auxiliary dam used to divert river water had failed after heavy rainfall. –