VIENTIANE, Laos: Two Singapore contingents have arrived in Laos to deliver humanitarian supplies for flood relief efforts in Attapeu province.
A Singapore contingent of officers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) arrived in Laos on Thursday night (Jul 26), carrying with them S$280,000 worth of relief packages.
The 19-strong contingent, including several members of the media, landed in Vientiane Airport on a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C-130 transport aircraft at about 8.30pm local time.
READ: Dead cows, destroyed homes: Laos villages ravaged by dam collapse
The relief packages include tents, meal rations, bottled water and medical supplies from the SAF. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
The supplies are to provide relief to displaced civilians affected by flash floods after the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy dam in Attapeu province collapsed and swamped several villages.
Dozens have died and thousands are still missing three days after the hydropower dam collapsed on Monday, releasing 5 billion cubic metres of water – enough to fill more than two million Olympic swimming pools – into the surrounding villages.
Laos Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Baykham Khattiya and Singapore Ambassador in Vientiane Dominic Goh. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
The aid supplies were handed over to Laos Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Baykham Khattiya by Singapore Ambassador in Vientiane Dominic Goh and the SAF’s mission commander, Colonel Mohd Fahmi Aliman, Director (Designate) of the Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre (RHCC).
Laos Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Baykham Khattiya with the SAF’s mission commander, Colonel Mohd Fahmi Aliman. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
The relief packages include tents, meal rations, bottled water and medical supplies from the SAF.
The SAF also donated five rubber dinghies with outboard motors to assist with water rescue.
The SAF also donated five rubber dinghies with outboard motors to assist with water rescue. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
A second RSAF C-130 arrived in Laos on Friday morning, also with a 19-strong contingent.
“At 11.10am today, a 19-strong Singapore contingent of SAF and SCDF personnel arrived in Laos on the second of two C-130 transport aircraft from The Republic of Singapore Air Force, to deliver humanitarian supplies for flood relief efforts in Attapeu province,” said the Ministry of Defence in a Facebook post.
Among the supplies on the second aircraft were tents and rubber dinghies with outboard motors donated by the SAF and large modular tents from SCDF.
READ: SCDF set to send officers to Laos to aid relief efforts, Singapore to donate US$100,000
The SAF team included personnel from the army’s Singapore Combat Engineers and Army Deployment Force. They helped to instruct Lao People’s Army personnel in the use of the dinghies for water rescue operations as well as in the set-up of five-man tents for temporary shelter.
