Khien, 63, Thahin village Sixty-three-year-old Khien has a cheerful demeanour despite her ordeal. She is sheltering in a school building in Sanamxay school evacuation centre having lost everything she had ever owned the night of the flood. She waited a day on the roof of a neighbours house before rescue came. After days of heavy rainfall and floods, Laos’ Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam collapsed late on 23 July, releasing 5 billion cubic metres of waters down a tributary of the Mekong River and directly affecting more than 13,000 residents in 13 villages in the south-eastern province of Attapeu, which borders Cambodia. The Lao government has declared a national disaster . While the water is receding, it leaves behind thick, deep mud, and heavy rain continues to fall across the area, making conditions challenging for relief efforts.