Hazardous quarries remain major safety headache

>> Sixteen dead in Vietnam rockslide

>> Investigation launched into Len Co quarry rockslide

Unsafe quarries remain a major health and safety threat, with two more people killed in a recent accident.

Len Num quarry

On June 7, two men, Linh Hong Son 40, and Pham Van Dong 38, died after being crushed after a rockslide struck a quarry in La Hien Commune, Vo Nhai District, in the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

La Hien is home to a majority of Thai Nguyen Province’s quarries. Several other mining accidents have recently occurred in the area.

The cause of the tragedy is under investigation.

Earlier, on April 1, a rockslide in Len Co quarry in the central province of Nghe An caused 17 deaths.

According to local authorities, the Len Co Quarry had been earmarked on several occasions as a site of concern. However, the Chin Men Ltd. Co., continued operations as usual.

A litany of similar incidents has occurred over recent years including a rock slide at Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, killing 18, in December 2007, and at Len Nay quarry, January, 2008, resulting in 3 deaths and 7 injuries.

Another potentially deadly quarry

Len Num Quarry in Quynh Xuan Commune, Quynh Luu District, Nghe An Province has been providing stone for many years.

Workers climb to the top of the quarry wearing poorly-equipped safety belts to drill rocks. Many others work at the base of rocks which could fall at anytime.

A resident said, “The quarry has different owners who hire locals to collect the rocks. Most of the labourers are farmers who lack any quarrying or stone-working skills.”

Local resident Nguyen Phan said, "We often travel along this road and see they’re quarrying with explosives, these explosions throw rocks everywhere.”

Nguyen Duy Thao, Chairman of the commune People’s Committee, said illegal quarrying had happened in Len Num area. “We don’t know exactly who the real owner of the quarry is, because we haven’t issued a license to anyone,” he added.

The local authorities have arrested people working on the site and suspended work, but the situation has continued.