The dyke at Vĩnh Bình Commune in Chợ Lách District is being strengthened. — VNA/VNS Photo Huỳnh Phúc Hậu. |
BẾN TRE — Four houses were swept away and seven others had to evacuate after a riverside bank collapsed on Monday evening in Vĩnh Bình Commune in the Mekong Delta Province of Bến Tre.
The landslide stretched for 350 metres and was more than 20 metres wide.
Ngô Thị Cẩm Hương, owner of one of the four collapsed houses, said recognising the signals, they fled the house minutes before it sank into the Cổ Chiên River. The family lost all its belongings, she told e-newspaper Vnexpress.
Phạm Anh Linh, deputy chairman of Chợ Lách District’s People’s Committee, said the landslide caused no casualties.
A large area of vegetable gardens and fishing ponds were also affected. The loss to property was estimated at VNĐ1.3 billion (US$57,200).
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, a landslide stretching for 50m destroyed eight metres of riverbank, prompting one household to evacuate.
Possible landslides still threaten the lives of 700 homes in the neighbourhood and is disrupting traffic linking Phú Đa and Phú Bình villages.
The district’s People’s Committee has directed all forces to reinforce the embankment as well as being prepared to respond to more landslides. — VNS