Nghe An: Quarry blast injures 2 people and damages dozens of houses, fined 85 million VND

On May 11, Mr. Tho Ba Re - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district said that the locality has just issued a decision to impose an administrative fine of 85 million VND on Hong Truong Company Limited. This company is the owner of the quarry in Kim Da village (Pha Danh commune), which exploded mines that damaged dozens of houses and injured two people, as reported by Nghe An Newspaper in early April.

The quarry of Hong Truong Company Limited has been operating for nearly 20 years, about 200m from a resident's house. Photo: Tien Hung

The decision to impose a fine was based on a report prepared by an interdisciplinary inspection team consisting of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment; Department of Construction, Department of Industry and Trade and Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Accordingly, the inspection team determined that this quarry had three violations.

"The first mistake is using unsafe explosives. The second is the mining plan is not in accordance with the approved design. The remaining violation of the quarry is not having a weighing station," said Mr. Le Duc Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade.

Regarding the long-term plan, in addition to requiring the quarry owner to comply with regulations, to ensure the safety of the people, Ky Son district has asked the People's Committee of Pha Danh commune to make a proposal to request the policy of relocating 20 households living next to the quarry to a new place.

A house in Kim Da village was punctured by rocks after a mine explosion. Photo: Tien Hung

Previously, as reported by Nghe An Newspaper, on the afternoon of April 3, Hong Truong Company Ltd. conducted blasting operations to mine rocks as usual. However, the blast sent rocks flying hundreds of meters, injuring two people and damaging 23 houses and many household items.

Afterwards, the quarry repaired the damage by purchasing fibro sheets to re-roof the houses. In addition, the quarry also supported each affected family with a chicken to make a blessing according to local customs each time they repaired their house.

A large rock fell close to a house. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the reporter's investigation, Hong Truong Company Limited was licensed to mine stone here since 2004. The company's quarry is only about 200 meters from the nearest residential area. However, this blast caused large and small rocks to fly nearly 400 meters away. In addition, this is not the first time this company has exploded rocks, causing them to fly down to Kim Da village.

Not only are they threatened by mine explosions, the people here also have to endure dust and noise pollution from the quarry. Not to mention, heavy rains cause fine rocks from the quarry to flow down to the fields of the people next door, making it impossible for them to produce. According to the leaders of Pha Danh commune, for many years now, in most of the meetings with voters, people have expressed their frustration about these situations. However, to date, they have not been resolved.