Dozens of people contributed money to 'ransom' giant eels to release them back into the river.

When they learned that Mr. Luong had caught a "giant" eel weighing 9kg, dozens of households in Tan Long village, Viet Xuyen commune, Thach Ha district (Ha Tinh) pooled money to buy it and release it back into the wild.

The 9kg eel was caught by Mr. Luong in Cau Soong river.

Previously, at around 7am on December 18, while fishing in Cau Soong River, Mr. Nguyen Van Luong (residing in Viet Xuyen Commune, Thach Ha) suddenly discovered a "giant" eel caught in the net. After an hour of struggling, Mr. Luong was able to bring the "giant" fish home.

Through weighing, it was determined that the eel was 1.2 m long and weighed 9 kg.

Upon hearing the news, Mr. Le Dang Long (residing in Tan Long hamlet, Viet Xuyen commune) came to see and offered to buy the fish to release them back into the wild.

"Many traders offered a large sum of money, but when Mr. Long said he was buying it to release it, I agreed to sell it for 5 million VND," said Mr. Luong.

Mr. Long said: "Hearing that Mr. Luong caught a big eel, I immediately came to buy it to release because today is the first day of the lunar calendar."

When they heard about the incident, many people came to see it. Then dozens of people pooled their money together to help cover the cost of buying fish for Mr. Long.

The eel was then released back into the river by the people.

“Dozens of households, each person contributed a little bit, and gave more than 4 million to Mr. Long. This is our sharing, because Mr. Long alone spent 5 million to buy a fish to release into the river, which is too much,” a resident shared.

At around 1:00 p.m. on December 18, local authorities and residents released the eel into the Cau Soong River.

According to Dantri