BANGKOK: Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after the collapse of a hydropower dam under construction in southeast Laos, state media reported Tuesday.
Several dams are being built or are planned in Laos, an impoverished and landlocked communist country that exports most of its hydropower energy to neighboring countries like Thailand.
Laos News Agency said the accident happened at a hydropower dam in southeastern Attapeu province’s Sanamxay district late Monday, releasing five billion cubic meters of water — more than two million Olympic swimming pools.
The report added that there were “several human lives claimed, and several hundreds of people missing.”
Several houses in the southern part of the district were also swept away, the report said, and officials in the province put out a call for relief aid for flood victims.
The $1.2 billion dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, a joint venture formed in 2012.
Among the companies involved in the project according to the Laos News Agency are Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, South Korea’s Korea Western Power and the state-run Lao Holding State Enterprise.
The 410-megawatt capacity dam was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019, according to the venture’s website.
The project planned to export 90 percent of its electricity to energy hungry Thailand and the remaining amount was to be offered up on the local grid.
Hundreds missing in Laos after hydropower dam collapse
Hundreds missing in Laos after hydropower dam collapse
- The $1.2 billion dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company
- The 410-megawatt capacity dam was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019
Spain expects tourist arrivals to keep growing in 2026
- “If growth continues this year, we will reach 100 million foreign tourists,” Hereu said
- Spain is the world’s second most visited country after France
MADRID: Spain expects to host more foreign visitors, and for them to spend more in total, in 2026 after the country welcomed a record 97 million tourists last year, Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu told reporters on Thursday.
“If growth continues this year, we will reach 100 million foreign tourists, but we aren’t focused on that,” Hereu said, adding that last year’s figure represented a 3.5 percent increase on 2024, while revenues from tourism rose 6.8 percent to 135 billion euros ($157 billion).
Spain is the world’s second most visited country after France, and tourism is a major source of revenue for the economy, which has by far outgrown its European peers in the past two years.
According to tourism industry lobby Exceltur, the sector accounted for an estimated 13 percent of Spain’s gross domestic product in 2025.
Hereu said in the first four months of this year — including the busy Easter holiday season — authorities were forecasting a 3.7 percent rise in visitors from abroad to 26 million people, who they expect will spend 35 billion euros, up 2.5 percent from the same period last year. The Mediterranean country’s tourism boom, while boosting its economy, has led to tension in many visitor hotspots due to the indirect effect on housing prices, congestion and natural resource degradation problems. Some popular destinations like Ibiza have cracked down on short-term rentals.
Hereu said Spain’s model was moving away from seasonality, as data showed that tourist spending had grown by 53 percent in the low and mid-seasons compared with pre-pandemic year 2019, and by 34 percent in the high season. Two-thirds of tourists who visited Spain in 2025 intend to return as they see it as a safe place, the minister said, adding that there was no sign of global geopolitical issues affecting flight availability or booking trends.
