Ground subsidence creates 25-meter deep hole in central Vietnam

Duong Duc Hien, 58, a resident of Quy Loc Commune, Yen Dinh District told Tuoi Tre that at about 4 am on Tuesday, he heard a loud noise, like the sound of a house collapsing, coming from the garden in front of his house.

Hien rushed outside and was surprised to see a hole, about 1.2 meters wide and 1.2 meters deep.

The hole then gradually deepened and widened, as if the ground was being pulled down and swept away by a strong underground water current, Hien and other locals said.

At 6 am, when the hole was much deeper and wider than at first, Hien reported the strange incident to the commune People’s Committee.

Commune authorities initially wanted to fill the huge hole with stones and soil, but as it kept sinking and widening, they reported the case to the district People’s Committee for instructions.

As witnessed by Tuoi Tre correspondents on the scene, the hole reached about 25 meters deep by that afternoon, with a five-meter deep pool of muddy water at its bottom.

The width of the hole was nearly 15 meters.

As the whole widened further, more fruit trees in the garden collapsed.

After the hole appeared, the water level in most of the wells near Hien’s house dropped.

“The large hole is dangerous to my family and neighbors as it keeps getting wider and deeper,” Hien said. “We asked local agencies to examine the strange phenomenon and advise us on how to protect our lives and property.

“If the hole seriously affects our livelihood, we hope authorities will create a plan to relocate us soon,” he added.

The hole is located about 400 meters from the Ma River.

Removal to a safe place

In talking with Tuoi Tre about the ground subsidence, Le Trung Thuy, chairman of Quy Loc Commune People’s committee, said the authorities have sent police officers to the scene to surround the dangerous area with barriers and ban people from coming near it.

Hundreds of people have flocked to Hien’s house to look at the strange hole, and police had to ask them to leave the area for their own safety.

Commune authorities also asked Hien’s family and all nearby households to remove their property from their houses and, for safety reasons, not to stay at home until further notice.

The scene has been guarded closely, pending an examination by experts from concerned agencies, the authorities said.

“The government has moved people in the affected area to a safe place and is working on a plan to deal with the ground subsidence,” Le Vu Lam, deputy chairman of Yen Dinh District People’s Committee, told VnExpress on Tuesday afternoon.