Enjoying an outdoor BBQ grilled duck in the middle of beautiful blooming yellow paddy field might be a picnic to dream of for anyone, but it turned into a nightmare for one poor farmer.

Police in the Tân Thành B Commune in the southern province of Đồng Tháp last week reported a fire that burnt down the whole 25,000 sq m of rice field that was ready for harvest.

Local farmer Phạm Văn Nu was the arsonist, though unintentionally.

According to the police’s investigation, Nu took a rest and started preparing his lunch after harvesting his rice field in the morning of August 3. His selected menu was a grilled duck which was cooked right in his field.

The grilling was perfect, except for the fire. The flames silently spread into the paddy fields of two of his neighbours: Nguyễn Đức Huy and Nguyễn Văn Tâm.

Noticing the fire, Nu called out for help in panic but it was already too late in such a windy day. Everything was reduced to black ashes.

He had to pay compensation to his neighbours, and although the amount wasn’t disclosed, it was bound to be a large sum given the amount of destruction.

BBQ duck can be a very nice dish, especially if it’s cooked to perfection. The problem for Nu wasn’t the food, but the bill.

How to solve traffic accident in a civilised manner

There are different paths people can take after a crash on the streets. Sadly the most common tend to be arguments and in some cases, fighting.

Best bet is sit down there and then and sort it out during a quick chit chat.

That was what happened in the central city of Đà Nẵng last week.

A clip posted on Facebook shows two middle-age men sitting in the middle of the road at the Nguyễn Hữu Thọ roundabout. Next to each of them was a fallen motorbike which apparently had just been involved in a head-on collision.

The men sat face-to-face, with helmets still on, and were having a small talk - possibly trying to reason who was at fault here with all the bikes and cars still flowing around them. This may have looked a little odd to those around them at the time, but facebookers seemed happy with the way the matter was resolved.

The user who posted the clip said the men sat there for around 15 minutes to calmly resolve the crash, which was “way too cute”.

Many netizens reacted to the clip with a laugh and said that if only everyone could handle unwanted accidents as much civilised as the two men.

They should be praised for civilised manner but anyone who wants to try the same way should reconsider the place for the chit chat - perhaps on a nearby pavement - if they don’t want to appear on the newspapers because of some tragic accident caused by dangerous sitting. — VNS