SEOUL: SK Engineering & Construction, the South Korean partner in a Laos hydropower dam, said Wednesday it discovered the upper part of the structure had washed away 24 hours before it collapsed, engulfing seven of 12 villages downstream.
The wall of water unleashed on Monday by the failure of part of the structure, a so-called "D saddle" dam, one of the auxiliary dams constructed to contain the reservoir in the whole Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydro-dam project.
The dam collapse sent 5 five billion cubic metres of water -- equivalent to more than 2 million Olympic-size swimming pools -- surging through villages. As of press time, 19 villagers were confirmed dead, several hundred remained missing, 1,300 houses damaged rendering 6,000 villagers homeless, according to Laos state media KPL.
"We immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating [nearby] villagers downstream," it said. The government was warned about further damage to the dam around noon, prompting an official evacuation order for villagers downstream, and the structure collapsed a few hours later, it said.
"Currently, SK E&C is actively working on personnel recovery and damage relief with the Laos government," the firm said.
Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and several dams are being built or planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to Thailand and other neighbouring countries.
The $1.2-billion dam, located near the border with Cambodia, is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company (PNPC), a joint venture formed in 2012 by a Laos, Thai and two South Korean companies, according to the project's website. The 410-megawatt plant was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019. afp