A number of people are dead and at least 100 are missing after a hydro-electric power dam in Laos collapsed.
Officials have brought boats to help evacuate people in San Sai district of Attapeu province in the southeast of the country as water levels rise after the dam collapsed, ABC Laos news reported on Tuesday.
Laos News Agency reports that five billion cubic metres of water were released when the dam collapsed, the equivalent of more than two million Olympic swimming pools.
A video posted by the news network on its Facebook page showed villagers stopping to watch fast-flowing water from the side of a river bank.
Official news agency KPL says more than 6600 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.
Environmental rights groups have for years raised concerns about Laos' hydropower ambitions, including worries over the impact of dams on the Mekong River, its flora and fauna and the rural communities and local economies that depend on it.
Reuters
