Scramble for Laos dam survivors, supplies

Rescuers have scrambled to reach those stranded by a collapse dam in the remote southern tip of Laos.

A young victim steers a tractor through a flooded road in Sanamxai, Attapeu province, yesterday. Picture: AFPAFPon

Rescuers have scrambled to reach homeless and stranded people in the remote southern tip of Laos, four days after the collapse of a partially built hydropower dam unleashed a devastating torrent of water.

Phra Ajan Thanakorn, a Buddhist monk returning from Sannamxai, said he had delivered food and medicine in trucks that had come from the capital, Vientiane, and he was heading back there to get more.

“The situation is really bad,” he said. “All the relief efforts are at Sannamxai. There are volunteers distributing food and medicine for survivors every day there. They are still lacking food, medicine and coffins.”

The scale of the disaster is still unclear, in part because of the ­inaccessibility of the area but also because reports from the communist country’s state media have been scant and sketchy.

The official Laos News Agency said 26 people were confirmed dead and more than 130 were missing following the failure of the dam on Monday, a subsidiary structure under construction as part of a hydro-electric project.

The Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday that more than 3000 were awaiting rescue from swirling floods. But yesterday, the newspaper cited Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as saying that only one person had been found dead and all those who sought shelter on trees and the rooftops of submerged houses had been plucked to safety.

“His comment corrected misinformation carried by many media outlets that reported more deaths,” the Vientiane Times said in the report on its website.

A situation report from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said roads and bridges were damaged and eight villages were hit by flash flooding after the failure of the dam in the province of Attapeu.

It said boat and helicopter were the only means of transport in the affected areas. Schools in safe areas were being used as evacuation centres and about 1300 families needed tents.

On the road to the small town of Sannamxai in the worst-hit area, Norwegian People’s Aid trucks were carrying aid, including fresh water and blankets.

State media said on Wednesday a team of Lao and Chinese rescuers was headed for Attapeu, a largely agricultural province that borders Vietnam to the east and Cambodia to the south. South Korea and Singapore have also offered to help in the rescue effort.

Reuters