老挝大坝发生坍塌：当局正全力营救被困村民

Rescuers are racing to find survivors after a dam in Laos collapsed late on Monday, flooding several villages and killing at least 20 people.

老挝一大坝于23日晚发生坍塌，淹没数个村庄，造成至少20人死亡。救援人员正在争先恐后寻找幸存者。

At least 100 people are still missing, and thousands have lost their homes.

至少100人失踪，成千上万人流离失所。

The authorities in Attapeu province have been using helicopters and boats to try to evacuate stranded villagers.

阿速坡省（Attapeu）当局一直在使用直升机和船只来尽力营救被困村民。

The dam that collapsed is part of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project, which involves Laotian, Thai and South Korean firms.

发生坍塌的大坝是Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy水力发电项目的一部分，该项目牵涉老挝、泰国和韩国公司。

Local authorities have appealed to government bodies and other communities to provide emergency aid such as clothing, food, drinking water and medicine.

地方当局呼吁政府机构和其他社区提供如衣服，食品，饮用水和药品等的紧急援助。

Footage of the disaster has shown survivors huddled on roof tops of their submerged homes, or wading through water, holding children and their belongings.

记录这场灾难的镜头显示，有的幸存者蜷缩在他们被淹没的房屋屋顶上，有的抱着孩子带着他们的个人物品在水中费力地行进着。

One woman, seen in a video posted by ABC Laos news on Facebook, cried and prayed as she was evacuated on a boat, telling rescuers her mother was still stranded on a tree.

从ABC老挝新闻发布在Facebook上的视频中看到，当一名妇女被疏散到船上时，她哭着祈祷，并告诉救援人员她的母亲仍被困在一棵树上。

The dam that collapsed is an auxiliary dam called "Saddle Dam D". It is part of a network of two main dams and five subsidiary dams in the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project.

倒塌的大坝是一座名为“Saddle Dam D”的副坝。它是Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy水力发电项目中两座主坝和五座副坝网络的一部分。

The dam was 90% complete and had been set to start operating commercially next year.

该大坝90%已竣工完成，并开始准备明年投入商业化运营当中。

SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean company with a stake in the project, said fractures were first discovered on the dam on Sunday, before it collapsed:

在该项目中占股的韩国SK建设公司称，大坝坍塌前，于22日首次发现大坝出现断裂。

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the main Thai stakeholder, said in a statement that the dam "was fractured" after "continuous rainstorm[s]" caused a "high volume of water to flow into the project’s reservoir".

泰国主要相关责任公司Ratchaburi 发电控股公司在一份声明中表示，“连续暴雨”导致“大量雨水流入水库”，致使大坝“断裂”。

As a result, water "leaked to the downstream area and down to Xe-Pian River" about 5km (three miles) away, it added.

因此，水量“倾泻到下游地区，并流入距离大坝约5公里（3英里）的Xe-Pian河”，其补充道。

Laos has in recent years invested heavily in hydroelectric power - which makes up about 30% of its exports.

老挝近年来在水力发电方面投入了大量资金-约占其出口额的30％。

The government plans to double current energy production by 2020 to become the "battery of South East Asia".

政府计划到2020年将目前的能源产量翻一番，成为“东南亚电池”。

But groups warn of the project’s impact on the environment and the nations the river supports.

但有团体警告过该项目对环境和靠河流支撑的国家的影响。