Chinese, Laotians stand hand in hand to face troubled waters
The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam, which has been under construction in Sanamxay district, southern Laos’s Attapeu Province, collapsed on July 24, leaving at least 26 people dead and 131 missing.
Thousands of villagers were left homeless by the deluge and only a small number have been able to take advantage of makeshift shelters set up by the local government.
In facing of such deadly disaster in a neighbor country, the Chinese side showed great concern and taken prompt actions to help:
The foreign ministry
China is willing to offer aid and assistance to Laos after a dam collapsed Monday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing.
"China is maintaining close communication with Laos on disaster relief," Geng said, responding to questions regarding the aftermath following collapse of the dam.
China has expressed sympathy to Laos over the casualties and property losses caused by the accident and offered condolences for the dead, said Geng, expressing hopes that the missing people will be found soon, the injured will have a speedy recovery and people adversely impacted by the disaster will resume normal life as soon as possible.
The PLA
A medical contingent from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) arrived in Laos' southern Attapeu province Wednesday to help with relief work after a hydropower dam collapsed earlier this week.
Approved by the Central Military Commission, a PLA medical team, which is on the "Peace Train-2018" Humanitarian Medical Rescue Joint Training Mission in the Lao capital of Vientiane, dispatched the epidemic prevention unit to Attapeu.
The 32-member contingent is the first fully-equipped international rescue team arriving in the flood-hit area. It will offer medical service together with the Lao medical and sanitary teams.
Chinese businesses in Laos
On the way to southern Laos' Attapeu province hit by a flash flood triggered by Monday's hydroelectric dam collapse, Xinhua reporter received a call from Hu Yong, secretary of the party working committee of the China Railway No.5 Engineering Group.
Hu, working with his colleagues on the construction of China-Laos railway in northern Laos, was rushing on Wednesday to deliver relief food and equipment collected from his company to the disaster site.
Unfamiliar with local conditions, he was asking Xinhua reporter for the shortest route so as to bring the aid to the disaster-stricken area in the least time possible.
"Please feel free to contact me if anybody has inconvenience to send disaster relief materials to Attapeu. As a Chinese company in Laos, we are willing to help," said Zhang Xinlu, general manager of Laos Global Insurance Company based in southern Laos.
Amid the deadly disaster, Chinese people in Laos are ready to help.
"Taking advantage of the outlets coverage in southern Laos, we have arranged a truck, transporting instant noodle and other disaster relief materials to Attapeu," said Ma Xu, general manager of Lao-China Hongta Good Luck Tobacco Company.
"Our company has started raising money and contacting the local government to help the victims in a timely and effective manner," said Ma.
The Chinese media
Besides the national news agencies like Xinhua that has sent reporters to the flooded area, local Chinese media in Yunnan also tried to help in their own ways.
Soon after the dam collapse in Laos on July 24, Yunnan Gateway, a multilingual web portal run by Yunnan Daily Press Group, began to publish related news in Chinese, Lao and English.
Knowing the Chinese Blue Sky Rescue (BSR) team needs bilingual volunteers for interpretation, reporters at the Kunming-based Mekong Magazine posted the message on their WeChat moments and groups.
"I am going." You Mengpin, a teacher at Yunnan University, said at the readers’ group of Mekong Magazine. In the Laotian WeChat group of Yunnan Minzu University, alumnus Li Sha said their company will donate money and necessities to the flooded area.
"We will send around 100 team members to Laos in two batches." Zhu Yunyun, a contact of rescue team, said they are trying to identify the best bilingual volunteers among applicants.
On July 26 morning, 78 BSR members left Kunming for Vientiane, where the rescuers will be guided to flood-hit areas by Chinese volunteers in Laos.
Source: Xinhua, Yunnan Gateway; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue