Hundreds Missing, Several Feared Dead, after Laos Dam Collapse

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Hundreds of people are missing and several are feared dead after a hydropower dam under construction in southern Laos collapsed, causing flash flooding which swept away homes, state media reported on Tuesday.

The disaster left more than 6,600 people homeless, the Lao News Agency reported. It showed pictures of villagers wading through muddy flood waters carrying belongings. Others boarded rickety wooden boats or stood on the roofs of submerged houses.

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 collapse, ABC Laos news reported.

The company building the dam said heavy rain and flooding caused the collapse and it was cooperating with the Laos government to help rescue villagers near the dam.

"We are running an emergency team and planning to help evacuate and rescue residents in villages near the dam," a SK Engineering & Construction spokesman told Reuters by telephone.

The dam collapsed at 20.00 hours on Monday releasing 5 billion cubic meters of water and several hundred people are missing and homes have been swept away, the Lao News Agency said. It said several people had died.

A video posted by the ABC Laos news on its Facebook page showed villagers stopping to watch fast-flowing water from the side of a river bank.

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has suspended government meetings and led Cabinet members to monitor rescue and relief efforts in one of the affected areas, the state agency reported.

Communist Laos, one of Asia's poorest and most secretive countries, is land-locked and aims to become the "battery of Asia" by selling power to its neighbors...