Vietnamnet.vn
Podcast
 |
Director of the Hong Phat Dak Mek Hydropower Company, Mr. Le Ba Thanh, the owner of Dak Mek 3 dam in Dak Choong commune, Dak Glei district, Kon Tum province, said this project was kicked off in March 2009 and it is scheduled to operate in 2013. The plant has a total capacity of 7.5 MW, with investment capital of more than VND200 billion ($10 million). The work is designed by HCM City-based Nam Viet Joint Stock Company and built by Hong Phat Company. Around 80% of the workload has been completed and the dam does not store water yet.
At 5pm on November 22, a section of around 60m long of the dam suddenly collapsed. Over 700 m3 of stone and concrete fell into Dak Mek stream. The incident killed driver Nguyen Viet Hung, 28 from Quang Nam province on the spot. The body was found the next day.
 |
According to Thanh, the cause of the incident is due to the dam wall having to bear a large horizontal compression from the large volume of soil and rock that was used to make the dam. At the same time, a dump truck hit the dam wall, making the dam broken.
"We confirm that this is a labor accident. Hong Phat Dak Mek Hydropower Company compensated for the victim's family VND50 million ($2,500) and brought the victim's body to his hometown for burial," Thanh said.
At the scene, about 60 meters of the dam is broken; hundreds of concrete blocks with steel frame are under the stream.
The 1.5 m thick dam body looks definite but is cracked, showing thin iron frame inside the dam body. At a different location of the dam, the core of the concrete is just a few small bars.
Mr. Do Sum of the Dak Glei district People’s Committee said that the local government is investigating the incident.
"As far as we know, this work is under construction and it does not store water, so the consequences are not serious," Sum said.
Compiled by Thu Ha
.svg){kind=icon}
