HUNDREDS of people are missing after a dam burst unleashing 5billion litres of water. The hydroelectric dam collapsed in Laos, south east Asia, last night, triggering flash floods in its southern Attapeu province.
"Several human lives have been claimed", Laos News Agency reports – with "several hundreds of people missing".
And more than 6,500 people have been made homeless by the disaster.
Officials have brought in boats to help evacuate panic-stricken residents in San Sai district as water levels rise dangerously high after the disaster.
Environmental rights groups have raised concerns about 'hydropower ambitions' for years, expressing 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.

 

By Siba Jackson