ATTAPEU: The Laotian prime minister said on Wednesday (Jul 25) 131 people are still missing two days after a dam collapse swamped several villages in the country's south, killing at least 26 people.

In a rare televised press conference by the leader of the secretive communist country, Thongloun Sisoulith gave the most specific figure so far for the number unaccounted for.

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Earlier official reports spoke of hundreds missing in Attapeu province.

"One hundred and thirty one people have been reported missing," he said, adding all of them were Lao nationals.

Survivors have questioned why they got little warning of the deluge, which inundated several villages across a vast area with several meters of flood water.

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Two South Korean contractors said they had reported damage a day before parts of the Xe-Namnoy dam gave way Monday and unleashed a wall of water.

Thai consular official Chana Miencharoen, at the scene of the relief effort told AFP that by late afternoon Wednesday 26 bodies had been recovered.

"Seventeen others are injured and in hospital," he said, adding roof-level floodwater was hampering rescue efforts in a remote area of the poor and landlocked Southeast Asian country.

Information trickled slowly out of Laos as the publicity-shy country tried to get to grips with the disaster.

The Vientiane Times reported that 3,000 were in need of rescue as of Wednesday afternoon, taking shelter in trees and on rooftops.

Footage on Laos television showed people huddled on roofs awaiting rescue as muddy water swirled menacingly just below them, with the army and local volunteers leading the rescue effort.

Questions began to emerge over the collapse, with some of the displaced saying they were warned to leave their homes only hours before disaster struck.

"It happened quickly, we had little time to prepare ourselves," Joo Hinla, 68, from one of the worst-hit villages of Ban Hin Lath, told AFP from a warehouse crammed with over 700 displaced people in a neighbouring province.

"All of the houses in my village are under water. Four of my family are missing, we don't know about their fate yet."

Hundreds of other displaced people, including women, children and the elderly, sat on the floor nearby surrounded by plastic bags crammed with meagre belongings.

THE DAMMING OF LAOS

Laos, poor but blessed with abundant natural resources, aims to become the "Battery of Asia" allowing dozens of foreign-funded dam projects across its network of rivers.

But fears over the environmental impact of the projects, which export most of their electricity to neighbouring Thailand and China, go virtually unvoiced inside the tightly controlled country.

People use a makeshift ferry to cross the swollen Xe Khong river due to flash flooding in Sanamxai, Attapeu province, on Jul 25, 2018. (Photo: AFP/Nhac Nguyen)

Villagers across the country have been moved, some several times, to make way for dams whose benefits are mainly enjoyed outside of the country, campaigners say.

Once complete, around 90 percent of the electricity generated by the Xe-Namnoy dam was destined for Thailand.

The remote flooded area is only accessible by helicopter and flat-bottomed boats, with roads badly damaged or completely washed away.

South Korea was sending a relief team to the area, President Moon Jae-in's spokesman said Wednesday in Seoul.

"Our government must actively take part in on-site relief efforts without delay as our companies were involved in the construction of the dam," Moon was quoted as saying.

QUESTIONS OVER WARNING

Two South Korean companies involved in the $1.2 billion project said damage was reported a day before the dam collapsed following heavy monsoon rain.

SK Engineering & Construction said it discovered that the upper part of the structure had washed away at around 9:00 pm on Sunday.

"We immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating villagers downstream," it said in a statement.

READ: South Korea firm says Laos dam damage found day before collapse

Repair work was hampered by rain which had damaged roads, it said. Early on Monday water was discharged from the Xe-Namnoy dam - one of the two main dams in the project - to try to relieve pressure on the auxiliary structure.

The government was warned about further damage to the dam at around noon, prompting an official evacuation order for villagers downstream, and the structure collapsed a few hours later, it said.

Dam operator Korea Western Power Co. said one of the auxiliary dams - "Saddle D" - broke under heavy rain.

But according to a timeline the firm provided in a report to a South Korean lawmaker and obtained by AFP, it said "11 centimetres of subsidence was found at the centre of the dam" as early as Friday.

Emergency repair equipment could not be used as the subsidence worsened.

"It remains unclear what caused the dam to subside in some places and develop cracks," a Korea Western Power spokesman told AFP.

The 410 megawatt capacity plant was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019.</s>Hundreds of people are feared dead after five billion cubic metres of water was sent crashing into six villages in Laos.

The hydropower dam in San Sai in the south-east of the country collapse leading to severe flash flooding.

The shocking footage shows a number of homes submerged in flood waters with residents forced to sit on the roofs for safety.

Some residents appear to be trapped in woodlands as the flooding completely covers the village.</s>Several people have been killed, hundreds remain missing and around 6,600 are homeless after the collapse of a hydroelectric dam under construction in Laos, according to authorities cited by the official Lao News Agency on Tuesday.

The authorities did not specify the exact number of fatalities.</s>Several people have been killed, hundreds remain missing and around 6,600 are homeless after the collapse of a hydroelectric dam under construction in Laos, according to authorities cited by the official Lao News Agency on Tuesday.

The authorities did not specify the exact number of fatalities.</s>Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after a partly-constructed hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed, sending flash floods surging through six villages, state media reported Tuesday.

Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and there are several dams being built or are planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which 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 Monday, releasing five billion cubic metres of water -- more than two million Olympic swimming pools -- which unleashed flash flooding coursing into nearby villages.

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

Images published in the report showed scores of people, some clutching young children, crammed onto low-slung wooden boats and wading through muddy waters.

Several houses in the southern part of the district were swept away following the dam's collapse around 8pm (1300 GMT) on Monday evening, the report said, as officials in the province put out a call for relief aid for flood victims.

"We do not have any formal information yet about any casualties or how many are missing," an Attapeu official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that was "no phone signal" in the flooded region.

"We sent rescue teams who will help them and provide basic assistance first," the official added.

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 consists of a series of dams over the Houay Makchanh, the Xe-Namnoy and the Xe-Pian rivers in neighbouring Champasak Province.

It 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.

Under the terms of construction, PNPC said it would operate and manage the power project for 27-years after commercial operations began.

When contacted by phone in Laos' capital Vientiane a company official told AFP: "We do not have any official reports about it yet. We are gathering information."

Dam projects in Laos, mainly providing power to neighbouring countries, have long been controversial with fears over environmental damage and the impact on communities who are often displaced to make way for the construction.

A massive hydroelectric project at Xayaburi, led by Thai group CH Karnchang, is at the heart of Laos' plan to become "the battery of Southeast Asia".

The 1,285 megawatt dam -- which will cost $3.5 billion according to state media -- has sharply divided downstream Mekong nations like Vietnam and Cambodia who worry it will disrupt vital ecosystems and their own river systems.

Communist authorities in Laos keep tight control information and is often opaque about business deals and development projects.

The country has around 10 dams in operation, 10 to 20 under construction, and dozens more in planning stages.

"Once they cast themselves as the battery of Asia, exporting electricity became one of the major revenue sources, so it's basically selling natural resources such as water," Toshiyuki Doi, Senior Advisor at Mekong Watch, told AFP, adding he was not aware of a dam collapse.

Six Vietnamese workers were killed when a gas cylinder exploded at the construction site of a hydropower plant in central Laos in July last year.</s>Hundreds die, dozens more missing after hydro dam collapses in southern Laos</s>A number of people are dead and hundreds are missing after a hydroelectric dam collapsed in south-eastern Laos, state media reported.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam in Attapeu province collapsed on Monday evening, releasing large amounts of water and sweeping away houses, according to official news agency KPL.

It said more than 6,600 people have been left homeless.

The dam was constructed by a joint venture led by South Korean companies, with Thai and Lao partners.

It was scheduled to open this year, but it was unclear if it had begun operating.

The portion that collapsed has been described as a "saddle dam", which is an auxiliary dam used to hold water beyond what is held by the main dam.

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith "suspended the planned monthly meeting of the government for August and led his Cabinet members and other senior officials to Sanamxay (district) to monitor rescue and relief efforts being made for flood victims," KPL said.

Many areas of Laos have been hit recently by flooding from seasonal rains.

Electricity from several hydroelectric dams provides a large share of Laos' export earnings, with Thailand being a major buyer.

KPL said the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy project cost an estimated 1.02 billion dollars (£777 million).</s>BANGKOK, July 24 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people are missing and several are feared dead after a hydropower dam under construction in Laos collapsed causing flash flooding which swept away homes, local media reported on Tuesday.

Officials have brought boats to help evacuate people in San Sai district of Attapeu province, where the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam is located, as water levels rise after the dam collapsed, ABC Laos news reported.

Communist Laos, one of Asia's poorest and most secretive countries, aims to become the "battery of Asia" by selling power to its neighbours through a series of hydropower dams.</s>A hydroelectric dam collapsed in southeastern Laos, leaving an unknown number of people dead and hundreds missing, state media said today.

The official Lao news agency KPL said the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam in Attapeu province collapsed on Monday evening, releasing large amounts of water that swept away houses and made more than 6,600 people homeless.

The dam was constructed by a joint venture led by South Korean companies, with Thai and Lao partners.

The project, scheduled to begin operating this year, was still under construction, KPL reported.

It described the portion that collapsed as a "saddle dam," which is an auxiliary dam used to hold water beyond what is held by the main dam.

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith "suspended the planned monthly meeting of the government for August and led his Cabinet members and other senior officials to Sanamxay (district) to monitor rescue and relief efforts being made for flood victims," KPL said.

Many areas of Laos have recently been hit by flooding from seasonal rains.

Electricity from several hydroelectric dams provides a large share of Laos' export earnings, with Thailand being a major buyer.

KPL said the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy project cost an estimated $US1.02 billion.</s>Laos state news agency says several dead, hundreds missing after collapse of hydroelectric dam in southeast

BANGKOK (AP) — Laos state news agency says several dead, hundreds missing after collapse of hydroelectric dam in southeast.
The death toll from a dam collapse in Laos that caused heavy floods rises to 26, while more than 130 remain missing.