A house submerged after the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam collapsed in Attapeu province, Laos, on July 23. (Photo: EPA/VNA)Vientiane (VNA) – All Vietnamesecitizens residing in areas affected by the collapse of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noyhydropower dam in Laos are unharmed, Vo Van Mung, Chairman of the Associationof Overseas Vietnamese in Attapeu province, said quoting a report by localauthorities.
The hydropower dam burst at 8:00pmon July 23, causing flash floods in 10 low-lying villages and completely isolatingSanamxay district.
Mung said his association calledon Vietnamese expatriates in Attapeu province to aid the displaced residents ofthe submerged villages.
He added that the association hasso far raised nearly 50 million VND (over 2,100 USD) for the victims.
Food aid has so far reachedvictims by helicopter. The only path to these villages is completelyinaccessible at the moment as it is crosses 46 individual streams, with waterlevels still dangerously high. In the morning of July 25, local authoritiesbegan to build a temporary bridge on the path to facilitate food supplyefforts.
According to Vietnam News Agencycorrespondents in Laos, the Mekong River Commission said their statisticalanalysis showed that the collapse of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower dam willnot affect Vietnamese territory.
The hydropower plant, which has acapacity of 410MW, is being constructed by the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Power Company(PNPC) – a joint venture between SK E&C, Korea Western Power, RatchaburiElectricity Generating Holding, and Lao Holding State Enterprise.
Estimated to cost 1.02 billionUSD, it is the first build-operate-transfer (BOT) project to be undertaken byKorean companies in Laos.
On July 24, Thailand’s RatchaburiElectricity Generating Holding Pcl., issued a press release announcing thatunexpected heavy rains caused the dam to collapse. High volumes of rainwaterfractured the dam and caused a deluge in the downstream area of Xe-Pian River,it said.-VNA
VNA
