12-hour journey on foot across Hai Van Pass by a group of workers from Nghe An

On August 16, speaking with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, a group of 5 workers from Nghe An who were "stuck" on Hai Van Pass yesterday said they had a temporary place to stay, waiting for the day they could be arranged to return home.

A day ago, after Nghe An Newspaper published the story, the "Song Lam in Da Nang" Association called for support for this group of people. The group of workers is between 20 and 25 years old, of which 4 are Khmu people in Ky Son, one is from Nghia Dan district.

"At noon, we drove up to Hai Van Pass to pick them up and take them back to Da Nang city, where we took them out to eat. We arranged for them to stay temporarily at a construction camp, and sent some money to a neighbor nearby to cook for them," said a member of the association.

5 workers were taken out to eat and drink before being taken to a temporary shelter at a construction camp. Photo: Contributor

A young man in this group of construction workers said that nearly 2 months ago, they went to Da Nang to work at a construction site. After about 1 month, before they could receive their salary, Da Nang started social distancing, and work was temporarily suspended. "Now we can't call the boss to ask for salary. The construction manager is also quarantined somewhere, we can't contact him. For many days, we had to eat instant noodles, we couldn't stand it, so the whole group decided to go home," this person added.

At 8am on August 14, this group of workers began their journey on foot from Da Nang City. "Because there were still police on the mountain pass, we did not take the main road. Whenever we saw the shadow of the police, we avoided them and chose the mountain trails," said another construction worker.

It took 5 young men 12 hours to cross Hai Van Pass. Photo: Contributor

For many sections, they followed the railway over the top of the pass. Then the group circled down to the beach, dodging jagged rocks jutting out into the sea. Not knowing the way, the five young men groped their way, heading straight north whenever they saw a trail. By evening of the same day, they had reached the foot of the mountain, in the territory of Lang Co town. "At this point, the whole group was exhausted. They were both hungry and thirsty," this person added.

While walking along the railway, near Lang Co station, the group was discovered by the authorities. They were given food and drink and stayed overnight at the station.

On the morning of August 15, the five people were transported by police car back to Da Nang, and dropped off on Hai Van Pass. To cross Hai Van Pass, the group did not remember how many kilometers they had traveled, only that it took more than 12 hours of continuous walking. Meanwhile, this distance, if traveling through the tunnel, would only take about half an hour.

The group said that because they had just started working, they had no relatives in Da Nang. Photo: Contributor

Da Nang began social distancing on July 28, causing many workers to struggle. Many have fled quarantine to find a way home. Within two weeks, at least 1,600 workers have fled to their hometowns in Nghe An. Many of them chose to walk dozens of kilometers across the Hai Van Pass and then catch a bus home.

Faced with this situation, on August 15, the Department of Construction of Da Nang sent a document to the People's Committees of relevant units requesting to compile a list of workers who have stopped implementing Covid-19 prevention and control measures to manage and support social policies on food, accommodation or moving to their permanent residence.
Relevant units are working with all contractors, investors, and employers of construction projects in the city that are stopping construction to prevent and fight the epidemic. They are responsible for supporting food and accommodation conditions; sending workers back to their hometowns if needed; not allowing workers to stay at construction sites and camps, not ensuring safety in disease prevention and control; easily spreading the disease.

The Da Nang Department of Construction also requested the People's Committees of districts, towns, and related units to request investors, construction contractors, and employers to be responsible for supporting food and accommodation conditions; to count out-of-province workers who need to return to their hometowns; and to prevent workers from staying at construction sites and camps.
To ensure that workers at construction sites or staying in camps, rented houses, etc. have access to food and accommodation or to return to their hometowns, the Da Nang Department of Construction requests organizations and individuals to contact Mr. Le Van Tuan, Chief Inspector of the Department of Construction at 0935.890.708 or the Urban Regulation Teams of districts.