Hundreds still missing in Laos dam collapse as UN and other countries help
The dam, a joint venture with several banks having stakes in the project, saw an auxiliary dam fail amid heavy rains and flooding
Bangkok/Singapore As the search continues in Laos for hundreds of people missing in deadly floods caused by a collapsed dam, the South Korean firm helping to build the damaged hydropower project said it warned the government and began evacuating villages as workers tried to avert disaster. Engineers struggled for almost 24 hours to try and prevent Monday’s inundation, SK Engineering & Construction said. Eventually, one of the $1bn development’s smaller auxiliary dams failed amid heavy rains, flooding villages in the south-east, killing at least 19 people and leaving an estimated 6,600 others homeless, according to the Laos news agency. Water levels are back at safe limits at the hydropower plant and there’s no danger of a further overflow, an SK Engineering spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding the project’s two main dams and power plant are undamaged. The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy project — a joint venture between SK Engineering, Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, Korea...
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