Four people were killed, eleven were injured and many houses were destroyed when a flash flood suddenly hit Loi Tai Laeng Internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in southern Shan State. 

The IDP camp is part of a complex just across the border from Mae Hong Son Province in Thailand that also includes the main Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) army base. It is in a mountainous, rural area controlled by the RCSS/SSA ethnic armed organisation (EAO).

On the evening of 9 July at 10:00 p.m. after several hours of rain, ther e was an unprecedented flash flood, according to the Shan State Refugee Committee.

Camp administration members, health workers and villagers living nearby rushed to help the injured and those fleeing the flood, but it was very difficult in the darkness and heavy rain. Some were able to be rescued, but others went missing.

Early in the morning of 10 July, emergency relief efforts continued in search of the missing persons, and four bodies were found among the flood debris lower down the mountain. The four victims are: 

Mae Tao Mwe (female, age 66), Nang Seng Phwe (female, age 32), Sai Leng Wan (male, age 32) and Sai Kong Leng (male, age 17). The eleven injured include women and young children.

On Monday, 11 July, a traditional funeral and prayer ceremony was held for the victims. The camp administration is working to provide emergency relief for the victims’ families and those injured, as well as for reconstruction of the housing in the camp.