13 rescued as search for missing continues after dam collapse

Lao state officials and volunteers from Thailand have rescued 13 Lao people left stranded by the deluge after a dam collapsed in the area.

According to the Facebook Page of the Hook 31 foundation in Nakhon Ratchasima, which sent volunteers to join the rescue mission in Laos, seven adults, six children and a dog were found during a joint operation by the officials and the volunteers on Thursday.

They were found on high ground at Ban Xai Don Khong in Sanamxay district of Attapeu province and were evacuated by flatboats to shelters after landslides and flooding ravaged the village.

Hook 31 specialises in rescue diving and the team joined the international operation to help 12 young footballers and their coach at Tham Luang cave in Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province earlier this month.

Searches for missing Lao people are continuing after at least 13 villages in the district were submerged following the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam collapse on Monday.

Attapeu governor Bounhome Phommasane told the Vientiane Timess on Thursday that 127 people were missing and more than 10,000 were taking shelter in Attapeu and in neighbouring Champassak province.

“The number of affected villages is likely to increase as the floodwater flows further downstream,” the governor said.

The burst, which took 27 lives in Laos, also spilled into downstream Cambodia and forced residents of Stung Streng province bordering southern Laos to evacuate.

Air force spokesman AVM Pongsak Semacha said a C-130 aircraft made two round trips to Laos yesterday to deliver 3,000 blankets granted by His Majesty the King and 1,000 relief bags given by HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha.

Supachai Namkaew, a Thai volunteer, described the difficulties rescuers face in reaching the flood-affected areas.

According to a Facebook post, a rescue team was assigned to go to Ban Tamo Yod in Attapeu, but the convoy encountered difficult terrain and was forced to stop due to high floodwater.

The team was currently assessing ways to reach the village, he said, adding that to go further, the volunteers may have to ask villagers to transport supplies on their motorcycles, which are able to cross a flooded road on a makeshift bridge set up by Lao authorities.

The flooded section is about 25km from Ban Tamo Yod. Local village leaders have been asked to prepare tractors to help relay the items to the villagers once supplies are successfully carried over the road.

Mr Supachai said at least 700 people are trapped in the village.

Meanwhile, volunteers from Sawang Mongkol Satta Dhamma Sathan Foundation in Phetchabun reached a school in Sanamxay district of Attapeu, set aside as an evacuation centre, on Thursday night.

Prajit Sukwathana, head of the foundation, said the team had struggled to reach the site, adding that a boat-carrying lorry had lost a tyre during the journey.

The team, he said, would set up two water purification machines.

The shelter currently handles about 1,000 evacuees, he said, noting the facility, which is about six or seven kilometres from the disaster zone, is under the care of the Lao Red Cross and a team of doctors.

Another shelter was set up at a warehouse in Paksong district of Champassak province where more than 800 people, mostly women and children, have taken shelter.

According to Attapeu authorities, officers face difficulties in searching for survivors in five or six low-lying villages, which are still submerged.

Meanwhile, Gen Prayut Chan-ocha ordered the Transport Ministry to provide relief supplies for flood victims in Champasak and Attapeu provinces, according to Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

Later on, the ministry will send in a team of engineers to help survey the damage to roads and bridges before the repair work begins.