Death toll reaches 36 in Laos dam collapse, 98 missing
Vientiane, Aug 13: The death toll in the flooding caused by a dam collapse in Laos has climbed to 36 while 98 are still missing, national daily Vientiane Times reported on Monday.
On Saturday, we found the body of a three-year-old girl, bringing the number of known fatalities to 36, including three injured people who died in hospital, Deputy Director General of the General Political Department, Lao People's Army, Phalom Linthong said.
Laos army teams and rescue teams from Singapore are scouring the area for those still missing, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The operation is not easy because many areas remain flooded after a week of rain and we are constantly encountering challenges caused by thick mud, sand, and buried objects," Linthong said.
Rescue teams from Thailand, China, the Republic of Korea, and Laos arrived on the scene, when the flood hit on July 23, to aid in the search, rescue and relief operation, the daily noted.
Camps are being set up to accommodate the homeless after lower parts of Sanam Xay district was flooded following several days of rain.
The rebuilding of roads and bridges in the disaster-hit areas is being accelerated to enable relief supplies transportation.
An under-construction saddle dam of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project, invested by South Korean, Thai and Lao companies, collapsed on July 23, unleashing a large amount of water and hitting some 13 villages of Sanam Xay district.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
