Dam breach in Myanmar floods 85 villages, displacing thousands

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) More than 50,000 people have evacuated their homes in central Myanmar after part of a dam failed on Wednesday (Aug 29), inundating communities and damaging a bridge on a major highway, officials said.

The incident spotlights safety concerns about dams in Southeast Asia following last month’s collapse of a hydroelectric dam in neighbouring Laos that displaced thousands of people and killed at least 27.

“The (spillway) of the dam was broken and flooded the two villages close to the highway,” the fire department said on its Facebook page.

Authorities had given the dam the all-clear after an inspection just days earlier, despite residents’ concerns about overspill, state-run media said.

“If you go to my house, there are no belongings left,” said farmer Aung Aung, whose village of Kone Gyi Lan Sone was inundated without warning, sending him scrambling to tell his neighbours. They all ran to higher ground to escape.