An underpass in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang, which was built to welcome the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit week, has been flooded in the middle of the dry season.

It has not rained recently but the Nguyen Tri Phuong underpass has been submerged, causing immense difficulty to commuters, especially during rush hours.

The water appeared at around 7:00 am on Monday and reached up to 10 to 20 centimeters over an area of 20 square meters.

People were struggling as they traveled through the passageway. A traffic jam also happened as a result.

Local traffic police officers were dispatched to the location to control the traffic.

At around 7:30 am, the pump system within the structure was put into operation to alleviate the situation.

Luong Thach Vy, head of the Priority Infrastructure Investment Project Management Board, which supervises the underpass project, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the pump works automatically whenever it detects water.

A traffic jam at an entrance to the underpass on March 19, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

However, a power cut on Sunday night had caused the system to be unable to notice the abnormal signs.

“We had to operate the pump shortly after discovering the flooding, and it took about 20 minutes for the machine to deal with the situation,” Vy explained.

The agency is determining the reason why water appeared inside the underpass in the middle of the dry season, the official added.

Situated at the intersection of Dien Bien Phu with Nguyen Tri Phuong Streets, the underpass was opened to traffic on November 2, as part of Da Nang’s preparations for the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.

The structure is 4.75 meters high and 409 meters long, whose capital investment was estimated at VND118.3 billion (US$5.2 million).

Running from November 6 to 11, the APEC summit week was attended by U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among other leaders of the forum’s member nations.

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