The dam collapse released some 5 billion cubic meters of water onto villages, reportedly leaving hundreds of people missing and killing an unknown number. Structural damage had been discovered before the breach occured.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/Attapeu Today
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Laos dam break and the country's hydroelectric dreams
The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy Dam in Laos has burst due to heavy rain. Hundreds of people are missing and many feared dead. Opponents of Laos's plans to become the "battery of Asia" have warned of catastrophe for years.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Bernhart
Taking only what they can carry
Rescue workers helped locals flee floodwaters and the South Korean company SK Engineering & Construction, which is building the dam, said it was assisting with evacuations. Neighboring Thailand pledged to send help as well. More than 6,600 people have been forced from their homes by the surging waters.
Image: Reuters
Waiting to be rescued
Critics, such as the US-based group International Rivers, said the incident at Xepian-Xe Nam Noy, "shows the inadequacy of warning systems for the dam construction and its operators. The warning appeared to come very late and was ineffective in ensuring people had advanced notice to ensure their safety and that of their families."
Image: Reuters/ABC Laos News
Shelter from the floods
Villagers near the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy Dam were forced to take what they could of their possessions and hastily set up temporary shelters as waters surged through low-lying areas in the Attapeu provence. Laos is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.
Image: Reuters
We could put them over there
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has been personally involved with communist Laos' plan to become the "battery of Asia" by creating a network of renewable energy power plants. Here he is seen (center) visiting a resettlement area for residents displaced by a dam site. Transparency International ranked the Lao People's Democratic Republic 135 of 180 on its 2017 Corruption Perception Index.
Protests against Laos' plans to build a network of 11 dams along the Mekong River with backing from neighboring Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam have been going on for decades. The four countries hope that energy produced by the network will drive economic growth in the region.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
See it before its gone
Laos expects to fight widespread poverty by selling electricity produced by dams such as this Nam Theun 2. Critics, however, say the government is not doing enough to help the tens of thousands of residents who will be displaced by the mega-project.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam
(Yet) unspoilt nature
Water is plentiful in Laos, with many dams being built along tributaries to the Mekong River. Flooding from the breech of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy Dam was concentrated in the Attapeu province which is known for its idyllic landscapes.
Image: picture-alliance/ANN/H. McDonald-Moniz
On the slow boat to China
The Mekong River is still one of the main travel routes connecting China and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Its beautiful scenery is a favorite tourist attraction. Laos' Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said some 3.8 million tourists visited the country in 2017, bringing almost $650 million (€760 million) in revenue.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Hoelzl
Cultural heritage and a massive source of energy
Critics of Laos' massive hydroelectric plans have voiced concern that a network of dams could have adverse affects on flora and fauna as well as the communities of locals that depend on the Mekong River for their livlihoods. Critics also worry the dams will not be able to cope with extreme weather like the monsoons the region experienced in 2013.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Bernhart
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Hundreds of people are missing and an unspecified number are believed to be dead after the collapse of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydroelectric dam in southeast Laos, state media reported on Tuesday.
The accident happened at a dam in southeastern Attapeu province late on Monday, releasing 5 billion cubic meters of water with "several human lives claimed, and several hundreds of people missing," the Laos News Agency said.
More than 6,600 people have been left homeless after their homes in the southern part of the district were swept away, the report said, and officials in the province have put out a call for relief aid for flood victims. Journalist Frederic Spohr, speaking with DW from Laos, called the event, "a major catastrophe for Laos and for the region."
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith suspended meetings and led a delegation of cabinet members to the region to monitor events, the official Laos news agency KPL said.
ABC Laos reported that officials had brought boats to help evacuate people in San Sai district of Attapeu province, where the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam is located.
24-hour race to fix damage before collapse
The $1.2-billion (€1.02-billion) dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, a joint venture formed in 2012.
The Laos News Agency said the companies involved include Thailand's Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, South Korea's Korea Western Power and the state-run Lao Holding State Enterprise.
A South Korean builder also involved in the project, SK Engineering & Construction, said Wednesday that it had discovered Sunday evening that the upper part of the dam had been washed away. The discovery took place some 24 hours before the structure finally collapsed.
"We immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating (nearby) villagers downstream," it said in a statement. Rain hampered repair work attempting to fix the damage.
Shares in SK's major shareholders fell sharply after the dam collapse.
The 410 megawatt capacity dam was due to start commercial operations by 2019, according to the project website.
It planned to export 90 percent of electricity generated to neighboring Thailand, with the remaining amount to be offered up on the local grid.
Dam collapses in Laos: Journalist Frederic Spohr
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The 'battery of Asia'
The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam is part of Laos' massive plan to create a network of hydroelectric power plants. "Laos is not a manufacturing hub, it doesn't have skilled labor but what it has are hills and a lot of water. So the strategy was to kind of make Laos the battery of Asia," Spohr told DW.
For years, critics such as the US-based International Rivers have warned of the negative impact such plans could have on the flora and fauna of the Mekong River as well as the villages of local residents who depend on them for their livlihood. Furthermore, they fear such plants will be unable to withstand increasingly extreme weather conditions like the series of five massive monsoons that battered the country in 2013, affecting some 347,000 Laotians.
Rivers International also pointed to the failings of Laos' warning system in this most recent event, saying: "This also shows the inadequacy of the warning systems for the dam construction and operations. The warning appeared to come very late and was ineffective in ensuring people had advance notice to ensure their safety and that of their families."
