Fish die en masse in moat encircling ancient citadel in north-central Vietnam
Tuesday, October 10, 2023, 20:20 GMT+7
Several metric tons of fish were found dead in a moat encircling an ancient citadel in Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam, almost turning the lives of local people along the moat upside down due to the foul smell of the dead fish.
The mass fish deaths took place at the Vinh ancient citadel, located in the provincial capital city of Vinh a couple of days ago, with the number of dead fish still on the rise, according to the local inhabitants.
At 11:30 am on Tuesday, Tran Quang Lam, vice-chairman of the Vinh City administration, was directing a sanitation company to conduct a mass fish death clean-up there.
Sanitation workers had to walk along the moat to collect a dozen metric tons of dead fish using nets and bury them.
Ta Thi Luan, a 75-year-old resident in Quang Trung Ward, Vinh City, said her family and neighbors had to shut their doors since the decomposition of dead fish and mostly tilapia stank out the neighborhood.
The moat underwent renovation but it is not dredged regularly, thereby making it a very polluted waterway with black, stagnant water, and lots of garbage, Luan said.
Many local households were also found to have dumped sewage into the moat.
Lam attributed the mass fish deaths to the stagnant water in the moat plus heavy downpours in recent days.
A local wastewater treatment plant, named Hung Hoa, is in charge of treating sewage discharged from local households, but its wastewater pump is under repair, Lam said.
Authorities are working to determine the root cause of the mass fish deaths, he added.
Previously, fish dying en masse had been reported in this moat in January 2019 and caused environmental pollution.
The Vinh ancient citadel was built in 1831. It is surrounded by a moat measuring three meters deep and 28 meters wide.
The moat was covered with duckweed and garbage before 2018, after which the moat was renovated, with walls being built on both banks and a sewer installed to collect wastewater.
Despite the renovation, the moat is still full of trash and has unpleasant smell.
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| Most of the fish dead in the moat were tilapia. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| Students on their way home from school are seen covering their noses due to the stinky smell of dead fish in the moat. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| Many local households were also found to have dumped sewage into the moat. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| A sanitation worker collects dead fish using a net. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| The dead fish will be buried. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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