VietNamNet Bridge - This morning, June 12, a piece of the hydroelectric dam of Kre 2 in Ia Dom commune, Duc Co district of Gia Lai province was broken, causing flooding for tens of hectares of crops in the downstream region.

The broken dam, photo: Tuoi Tre.

Mr. Vo Thanh Hung, Duc Co district chairman, told VietNamNet that the incident occurred at about 5 am. About 40 meters of the dam was swept away. A large area of rubber of a company of the Ministry of Defense and tens of hectares of crops of local people were damaged. However, there was no human damage because the dam is 7km from the nearest residential area and nobody worked on the field at that time.

"The initial reason for the incident is from construction technique," said Siu Sum, Chairman of Ia Dom commune.

However, according to latest news from an urgent meeting of the authorities of Gia Lai province this afternoon, 10 people were swept away but they were saved by border guards. Some areas around the hydro-power plant is now flooded.

According to Gia Lai Chairman Pham The Dung, local forces are assisting locals to fight flood. The authorities will consider damage and give financial assistance to local people.

Ia Krel 2 dam was built by Bao Long - Gia Lai Industry and Hydro-power JSC in 2010. The plant has two turbines, with capacity of 5.5 mW, with a total investment of VND120 billion ($6 million).

Its reservoir, closed last month, is 200 metres long.

The cause of the breach is under investigation.

Tien Thanh