Thousands of Cambodians flee homes as floods spill from Laos

ATTAPEU: The torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to be evacuated, as rescuers battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after whole villages were washed away.

It was an unprecedented accident to strike the hydropower industry in Laos, where the Communist government has dammed large sections of its myriad waterways to generate electricity that is mostly consumed by its neighbours.

Thousands of villagers downstream in Cambodia were also forced to flee as the water once held back by the dam flowed south.

“Water is still rising, so more people will be evacuated,” Men Kong, a government spokesman in Cambodia’s Stung Streng province, said.

In Laos, Chinese rescuers in life jackets and helmets joined local soldiers searching for the missing yesterday, while community volunteers pitched in with private boats to return to villages still totally submerged.

Residents recalled their terror as water rushed through their homes.

Tran Van Bien, 47, 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 filled with water.

“We were on the roof of that house the whole night, cold and scared. At 4am, a wooden boat passed and we decided to send my wife and kid out,” he said 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.”

The US$1.2bil XeNamnoy dam was a joint venture between Laos, Thai and Korean companies. — AFP