A section of a national highway stretching nearly 80 meters through Vietnam’s Mekong Delta fell into the river shortly after multiple cracks were found across the road surface last weekend.

The subsidence occurred along National Highway No. 91 in Chau Phu District, An Giang Province between 00:30 and 3:00 on Thursday, despite authorities’ efforts to save the road over the past few days.

Half of the roadway along nearly 80 meters of the highway is now under the Hau (Back) River, according to Nguyen Thanh Lam, chairman of the People’s Committee in Chau Phu.

No one was harmed as the collapse happened early in the morning, while local authorities had already evacuated 15 households along with their valuable belongings.

The subsidence is likely to continue along the highway, which may affect an additional 11 households.

Preparations have been made to bring the affected families to a safer area in case the situation worsens, Chairman Lam stated.

Multiple cracks, each about one centimeter wide, were discovered along the surface of the road on Saturday morning. As of Sunday morning, the widths of the fractures increased to 1.5 to two centimeters.

An Giang chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh already led a delegation of officials to examine the situation, while traffic has been closely monitored to prevent heavy vehicles from entering the highway section.

The provincial administration has asked the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam to come up with a prompt solution.

They also called on relevant agencies to expedite the construction of a detour to avoid the section of National Highway No. 91 that runs through the locality.

National Highway No. 91 is considered a vital route in An Giang as it passes the provincial capital of Long Xuyen and Chau Doc City before reaching the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

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