A section of hillside collapsed beneath a workers’ residential camp at the Pak Beng hydropower project in northern Laos at 1 AM on 28 September, burying or damaging several buildings, according to an eyewitness account from the scene.
The slope collapsed below worker housing in Pak Khaen village, Ngeun District, on the Xayaboury side of the Mekong River near the border with Oudomxay Province.
Photographs from the site widely shared on social media show several dormitory-style buildings with white walls and red roofs, partly buried under mud and debris. A wide scar of exposed earth is visible on the hillside above the camp.
A representative of Lao Assistance, a Laos-based medical emergency and evacuation service currently on the ground in the Pak Beng area, said a truck driver returning from the dam site on the evening of 27 September spotted cracks forming on the hillside above the camp and raised the alarm.
The warning reportedly prompted hundreds of workers to leave the area before the slope collapsed. The source said the hillside had appeared unstable for some time, but the driver recognized signs that the situation was becoming dangerous.
At least one person was injured and taken from the site by ambulance, according to Lao Assistance, which is responding at the scene.
No official figures on casualties or missing people have been released yet.
Mekong Hydropower Project
The camp is near the site of the Pak Beng hydropower dam, one of several hydropower projects planned or under construction along the mainstream Mekong River.
Pak Beng Power Company Ltd., a joint venture between China Datang Overseas Investment Co. Ltd., holds a 51 percent stake in the project, while Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development Public Co. Ltd. holds the remaining 49 percent.
The land subsidence comes amid heightened flood and landslide risks across the region.
Laos has experienced flooding and landslides in several areas this month, while Thailand issued warnings for dozens of provinces over possible flash floods and landslides linked to a monsoon system in the days before the collapse.
This report is based on eyewitness accounts and information provided directly to The Laotian Times by sources at the scene. Anyone with new verified information from the scene can contact The Laotian Times newsroom via email at laotiantimes@rdkgroup.la
