A dump truck collided with the dam of a hydropower plant in Kon Tum Province, breaking most of the dam and killing the driver four days ago, bringing into question the construction’s quality. The incident occurred on November 22, but it seemed that information on it was hushed up until yesterday, when a Tuoi Tre reporter visited the dam of the Dak Mek Hydropower Plant 3 in Dak Choong Commune, Dak Glei District. Tran Van Binh, who lives near the dam, said he heard a loud noise from the facility that caused a plume of smoke to spread across the area on the afternoon of November 22. “I was later told that a person had died. I attempted to visit the scene but was stopped by security guards of the plant,” Binh said. When Tuoi Tre reporters arrived, they were blocked by a dump truck whose driver said, “You must contact the management if you want to enter this area.” The reporters saw debris from the damaged dam, which is about 80 meters long and 20 meters tall. About 60 meters of the length of the dam was totally destroyed. Le Ba Thanh, director of the Hong Phat Dak Mek Hydropower Joint Stock Company, the investor, said the incident happened at 5:30 pm that day when workers were working on the dam. A dump truck that was carrying rock hit a part of the dam, breaking it and causing a domino effect that broke other parts of the dam, Thanh said, adding that search and rescue forces were deployed to the scene. Nguyen Quang Oanh, deputy chairman of the Dak Glei District People’s Committee, said the authority had sent staff to the scene to handle the case.

The fact that the dam collapsed simply because it was hit by a dump truck prompted concerns about the quality of the dam (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Oanh said it was an industrial accident and is the responsibility of the dam’s investor. Meanwhile, Do Hoang Lien Son, said he did not know about the case as the investor had not reported it. “The investor and the construction unit are one in the same, so we are not sure about whether the dam has been built in accordance with the design or not. The supervising agency was also hired by a unit of the investor.” Nguyen Bo, director of the provincial Trade and Industry, said he did not know about the incident until yesterday afternoon. Before the incident, the department had inspected the construction site but did not find anything abnormal, Bo said. However, he added that that fact that most of the dam collapsed simply because it was hit by a dump truck prompted concerns that the quality of the dam was not up to standards. Work on the 7.5 MW plant began in March 2009, and the facility was expected to begin generating electricity in 2013. The plant is being built with a total investment of VND220 billion (US$10.56 million).