Over 100 people missing and several feared to be dead after collapse of under-construction dam in Attapeu province in Laos

Bangkok: Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed to be dead after the collapse of a hydropower dam under construction in southeast Laos, state media reported on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_4807711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Hundreds of missing are missing after dam collapse in Attapeu province in Laos. Source Facebook/Attapeu Today[/caption] Several dams are being built or are planned in Laos, an impoverished and landlocked communist country that exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand. Laos News Agency said the accident happened at a hydropower dam in southeastern Attapeu province’s Sanamxay district late on Monday. It caused release of five billion cubic metres of water — more than two million Olympic swimming pools. 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 $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. 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 planned to export 90 percent of its electricity to energy hungry Thailand and the remaining amount was to be offered up on the local grid.