According to villagers living nearby, the landslide was triggered by heavy rain around the hydropower Plant No.3. They also stated that the six workers killed were not locals.
Those who died were working in a tunnel along the waterway in Lawpita Hydropower Plant No.3, when the landslide engulfed them. Other workers were injured, but the number has yet to be confirmed, according to Thaw Reh, the director of the Karenni Development and Research Group (KDRG).
“A Chinese engineer is among the workers reported dead. He was in the tunnel instructing other workers when the landslide struck.” Thaw Reh said.
“ Before constructing the Hydropower plant No.3, the authority in charge of this project was talking about buying goods from Thailand, but in the end they bought construction materials from China and engage Chinese engineers.”
The ongoing Lawpita Hydropower project No.3 is one of three large-scale hydropower projects after the Lawpita Hydropower No 1 and No.2. The Lawpita Hydropower Plant No.2 was begun in 1960 and completed in 1974 and it has a capacity of 168 Megawatts. The Lawpita Hydropower Plant No.1 was begun in 1986 and completed in 1992 and it has a capacity of 28 Megawatts. The capacity of the Plant No.3 is not yet known.
Also, in January 2010, the state-owned Datang Corporation of China signed a Memorandum with the Burmese military government to build three new dams; two on Salween River and Pawn River located in Bawlake District and another one is on Thabet River, located in the Northern Loikaw District of Karenni State.
