PHÚ YÊN — Authorities in Sơn Hòa District said on Saturday that police had identified three drunken local men who were responsible for causing a flood that inundated a large swathe of fields and swept away tons of harvested sugarcane.  

According to the police, at around 2am Wednesday, three men in Suối Bạc Commune entered the area of Suối Vực reservoir to drink alcohol. After becoming drunk, they went into the control station and opened the water exhaust valve.

Some 2 million cubic metres of water rushed into the downstream areas, flooding large areas of Sơn Nguyên and Suối Bạc communes.

According to initial estimates, about 15 tonnes of harvested sugarcane were swept away, and 18 water pumps and 20 hectares of fields of sugarcane and other farm produce were damaged, causing a loss of some VNĐ300 million (US$13,300), online newspaper VOV reported.

Nay BLung, chairman of Sơn Hòa District People’s Committee, told online news site kenh14.vn  that a delegation from Phú Yên Province had come to Sơn Hòa on Saturday to look into the incident.

“The provincial leaders asked us to estimate the damages, and quickly help local people mitigate the consequences of the flash flood.

“We will strictly punish those responsible,” he said.

The chairman also held the guards of the reservoir accountable for the incident.

Managers of the reservoir said the guards were working at the management office, which are 800m away from the control station, and failed to detect the intruders.

The police have summoned the three men, all from the Chăm Hroi ethnic minority, for questioning.

Suối Vực reservoir has a capacity of 10.5 million cu.m, providing water for households and nearly 800ha of fields in Suối Bạc and Sơn Nguyên communes.

It went into operation in late 2015. — VNS