Laos Dam Collapse / KBS뉴스(News)

[Anchor Lead] Nearly a week after a devastating dam collapse and flood, authorities in Laos are engaged in an arduous search and rescue operation. The South Korean government and civic groups are stepping up to help. Meanwhile, the Laotian government says it has not ruled out the possibility of labeling the flood as a man-made disaster. [Pkg] At a temporary clinic set up at the shelter, patients gather around the medical staff as soon as they take out the medicine. People who got hurt while trying to escape from the charging water were treated with acupuncture by volunteers. A Korean medical organization that has been providing volunteer services in Laos for the past nine years headed toward the shelter in Atappeu Province as soon as they heard about the dam collapse. [Soundbite] Lim Ho-sik(Inst. of Asian Culture & Development) : "If we delay, we'll miss the golden time of opportunity. So, it's important to get there fast. That was my first thought at the news." Civic relief workers from Korea arrived at another shelter. The Korean volunteers brought a portable stove and other kitchen utensils for people at the shelter who have no cooking facility. The Korean government's emergency relief corps comprised of 20 medical staff members arrived in Laos yesterday and started working today. Also, 500,000-dollars' worth of relief goods from Korea were delivered to the flooded areas. Laotian authorities will soon start investigating the cause of the accident. South Korean Ambassador to Laos Shin Sung-soon, who had met with the Laotian Deputy Prime Minister, reported that the Laotian government thinks the dam collapse was caused by natural factors, but does not rule out that it may have been a man-made catastrophe.