Hydropower dam collapses in Laos, hundreds missing

Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after the collapse of a hydropower dam under construction in south-east Laos, state media reported today.

Laos News Agency said the accident happened at a hydropower dam in south-eastern Attapeu province’s Sanamxay district late on Monday, releasing five billion cubic metres of water, according to AFP.

The report added that there were “several human lives claimed, and several hundreds of people missing”.

Several houses in the southern part of the district were also swept away, the report said, and officials in the province put out a call for relief aid for flood victims.

The US$1.2 billion dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, a joint venture formed in 2012, according to AFP.

Among the companies involved in the project, according to the Laos News Agency, are Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, South Korea’s Korea Western Power and the state-run Lao Holding State Enterprise.

The 410 megawatt capacity dam was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019, according to the venture’s website.

The project consists of a series of dams over the Houay Makchanh, the Xe-Namnoy and the Xe-Pian rivers in neighbouring Champasack province.

It planned to export 90 per cent of its electricity to energy hungry Thailand and the remaining amount was to be offered up on the local grid.