Terrified “death pit” tens of meters deep in the mountainous commune of Nghe An

On the morning of May 17, Mr. Truong Van Hoa – Chairman of the People’s Committee of Chau Hong Commune (Quy Hop District, Nghe An) said that two more “death pits” appeared in the fields of Cong and Na Noong villages. The “death pit” continuously appeared in fields and houses, but the cause has not been found, making people extremely insecure and afraid.

The “death hole” with a diameter of 4m, about 20m deep in the field of Cong village, Chau Hong commune appeared on the afternoon of May 16.

“Around 4 pm on May 16, in the Na Tong field, in Cong village, a sinkhole with a diameter of 4m and a depth of about 20m appeared. At the same time, in the field of Na Noong village also appeared a sinkhole more than 2m in diameter and 0.4m deep. Immediately after the discovery, the commune made barriers, zoning, placing warning signs for people to avoid danger, and at the same time reporting to the District People’s Committee, “said Mr. Hoa.

According to the people of Cong village, on the afternoon of May 16, while working in the fields, they were startled to hear a loud noise and then a deep hole appeared. This is an area of ​​subsidence and water shortage that has occurred for more than 2 years. Although many interdisciplinary delegations returned, so far the cause has not been found. People are very confused and worried.

Rice fields in Chau Hong continuously appear “death pit”

Statistics from Chau Hong Commune People’s Committee, from the beginning of 2020 until now, there has been a situation of subsidence, houses cracked; 279 domestic water wells have dried up. In particular, since the end of February, there have been 114 houses cracked, including: cracked walls, cracked floors, subsidence of house foundations, and garden soil. Estimated damage is up to 57 billion VND.

“Up to now, there have been 18 sinkholes in the locality. Recently, the Geological Federation of North Central Vietnam has surveyed and found out the cause, but so far there have been no results,” said Chairman of the People’s Committee of Chau Hong commune.

Before that, there was also subsidence in people’s houses in Na Hieng village, Chau Hong commune

People here believe that the phenomenon of land subsidence, cracked houses, shallow well water is due to tin ore mining activities nearby. In order to mine ore, these companies use large-capacity machines to suck water from underground, leading to the depletion of groundwater resources.

Currently, Chau Hong commune has 11 enterprises exploiting stone and tin ore, in which there are enterprises exploiting underground ore in the form of underground mines. Most recently, when the mining scale used more modern equipment and machinery, especially in the field of underground tin ore mining, unusual phenomena as above appeared.

Along with the appearance of the “death pit” are cracked houses, unusually dry wells

Regarding the unusual subsidence, cracking and shallow wells occurring in Chau Hong commune, Quy Hop District People’s Committee recently issued a notice requesting all organizations and individuals to stop pumping, extracting and exploiting water. Underground waterfall in the area of ​​Na Hieng, Cong, Na Noong, and Poong villages (Chau Hong commune). The period of suspension of pumping and extraction of groundwater is from the date of announcement to the date of new notice. However, according to residents, some businesses still continue to exploit, despite the suspension order.