Earth dam in Lop Buri collapses
An earth dam in Lop Buri’s Khok Samrong district collapsed early on Wednesday, causing a massive amount of water to inundate farmland downstream and threaten many villages.
The chief of the Tambon Phaniad Administrative Organisation said the dam collapsed at 4am after the water in the 400-rai (64-hectare) reservoir had filled to full capacity following many days of heavy rains.
The embankment collapsed across a width of about 10 metres and had continued to widen. Local officials rushed to the scene to try to stop the water, while an urgent warning was issued to people living downstream to brace themselves for possible flash flooding.
The Tambon Phaniad TAO chief said the reservoir was built about 10 years ago and it is located in Ban Mor Kaset village in Tambon Phaniad.
He said if the rupture could not be fixed in time, thousands of rai of farmland would be inundated. The water was flowing downstream towards Tambon Klong Ket in the same district, he added.