For nearly 24 hours, engineers from South Korea and Laos raced to save the Xe-Pian Xe-Nomnoy dam before it cracked on Monday night, unleashing waters that state media says killed at least 19 people and prompting a rescue operation for thousands of stranded villagers.
The unfinished dam, envisioned as one of the jewels in the tiny communist-run nation’s bid to become the hydroelectric hub of Asia, proved unable to withstand torrential rains that had pounded the region for days, raising questions over safety standards. The...