Accordingly, 5 people are missing (determined to have died) including: Tan Su May (born in 1980); Ly Lao San (born in 2008); Tan U May (born in 1984); Phan Lao Lo (born in 2009), all residing in Lan Nhi Thang village, Si Lo Lau commune, Phong Tho district and Luong Van Ha (born in 1987, residing in Que Phong district, Nghe An province).
On the evening of May 16, informing reporters, a representative of Lai Chau province's leadership said that the province has mobilized 150 people from the police, army and hydropower plant workers to search for the victims.
"5 buried victims were confirmed dead, however, due to the possibility of further landslides, the body has not been taken out. Currently, the search and rescue force is handling the loading of soil and rocks above to gradually approach the victims safely" - the provincial leader said.
Previously, as reported by Lao Dong Newspaper, the unfortunate incident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. on May 16. During the construction process, the contractor (Dung Phuc Loc Construction Investment Joint Stock Company headquartered in Nghe An) hired a number of local workers.
At the time of the accident, workers were clearing the foundation holes under the hydroelectric dam, the road's negative slope was eroded, and rocks and soil flowed down, burying many people.
At least 5 people were confirmed dead, 4 injured were taken to the emergency room. Search and rescue work is still being urgently carried out.
According to the reporter's research, the Ta Pao Ho 1A & 1B Hydropower Project cluster is adjacent steps, in which Ta Pao Ho 1A Hydropower Plant is upstream, Ta Pao Ho 1B Hydropower Plant is downstream.
The project cluster is about 90km from the center of Lai Chau city, exploiting water resources in the Ta Pao Ho stream basin in Si Lo Lau and Mo Si San communes, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province.
The Ta Pao Ho 1A Hydropower Project exploits a approach road including 1 main dam to raise water and 3 auxiliary dams to collect water, the total length of the water pipeline tunnels is 4.2km, of which the main pressure tunnel is about 2km long, with a water pole calculated at 281.71m, the plant uses 2 vertical turbines, with an installed capacity of 13.5MW.
The Ta Pao Ho 1A and Ta Pao Ho 1B hydropower projects have a capacity of 24MW, with a total investment of 911 billion VND, and are 2 of 8 hydropower projects invested by Kosy Group in Lai Chau and Dien Bien provinces.
