Landslide buries two in Da Lat

By Staff reporters   June 28, 2023 | 07:10 pm PT
Landslide buries two in Da Lat
A landslide has damaged houses along Hoang Hoa Tham Street in Da Lat, June 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Hoai Thanh
A street embankment in downtown in Da Lat collapsed Thursday morning, burying two construction workers and injuring two others.

The accident took place at around 3 a.m. on Hoang Hoa Tham Street, with an embankment section of 50 m long and 30 m tall falling down, pouring soil and rocks onto a makeshift tent underneath, burying two workers who are husband and wife.

After hours of searches, the victims' bodies were recovered at 12:40 p.m.

The construction site where two workers have been buried. Photo by VnExpress/Hoai Thanh

The construction site where two workers have been buried in Da Lat, June 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Hoai Thanh

The landslide then caused a two-story house to be completely dismantled. There was no one inside that house when it happened.

It also damaged another house nextdoor, making it fall to one side. Two people inside were wounded and have been taken to hospital.

A house leans to one side due to the landslide. Photo by VnExpress/Kha Tran

A house leans to one side due to a landslide in Da Lat, June 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Kha Tran

Also on Thursday morning, an embankment of a street in an alley on Dang Thai Than Street of the Central Highlands city collapsed, damaging two houses, but no one was hurt.

Several landslides of smaller scales have been reported around the city's center within the morning.

According to the Hydro-Meteorological Station of the Central Highlands region, constant rains in the past few days in Da Lat, with rainfall reaching 60 mm an hour, have softened the ground.

As the city’s territory has many steep slopes, landslides would occur when it rains heavily, it said.

Damaged houses after a landslide in Da Lat City, June 29, 2023. Video by VnExpress/Kha Tran

On June 23, a low pressure system brought half an hour of heavy rains to Da Lat, severely flooded many roads, felled trees, stalled cars, and caused water to flow into people's houses.

Experts have more than once pointed out that the rapid urbanization of the city, one of Vietnam’s top tourist destinations, and the excessive development of greenhouses farming has led to excessive surface runoffs, as there is not enough soil left to absorb the water.

 
 
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