Myanmar’s dam failure is second major regional tragedy

Hard hit: (Above) Flood victims assessing the damage to their homes after the dam burst. The crumbling walls of the Swar Chaung dam in the Bago region. — AFP/ Reuters

SWAR CREEK DAM (Myanmar): As many as 85 villages were flooded in Myanmar after a dam failed, unleashing waters that blocked a major highway and forced more than 63,000 people from their homes, a state-run newspaper said.

The disaster spotlights safety concerns about dams in South-East Asia after last month’s collapse of a hydroelectric dam in neighbouring Laos that displaced thousands of people and killed at least 27.