>> Mountain rockslide kills 6 in An Giang
>> Construction likely caused rockslide killing 6
More than 4,000 residents who are living in four hamlets on the mountain in An Hao Commune, Tinh Bien District, have been blocked from their usual roads since Huu Duan Co. Ltd., has been busy removing large fallen rocks from the road that links the mountain to outside, authorities said.
The site clearance by the company, which was selected by local authorities for the work, may last for 15 days and during that period no traffic will be allowed in the area, said Nguyen Huu Duan, the company’s director.
"The removal of the fallen rocks is time-consuming since we have to cut each of the massive rocks into small pieces before removing them from the scene," he explained.
Some of the trapped people had earned their living as traders of crops and fruits to visitors to the mountain, while others had lived on services they provided to tourists.
Since the day of accident, most of them have been driven into great loss, as nobody has come to visit the famous pagodas on the mountain, which means they have no customers.
Over the past few days a food scarcity has occurred in the area and goods prices have soared, since many worrying people have bought up what they can as reserve.
Massive rocks falling from the Cam Mountain crushed this van on May 5, killing 6 people and injuring 2 others
“While vegetables and fruits cannot be sold, the prices of many consumers goods have risen twice or thrice since last week, but it is not easy to find them to buy,” Pham Viet Tan, head of Vo Dau hamlet, said.
“Many poor families have run out of food,” he said.
Yesterday, the district authorities mobilized traders to bring consumer goods up to the mountain to sell to locals at soft prices.
However, as the goods were carried manually and the terrain was difficult to traverse, the volume of items provided to locals was small, said Ngo Hong Yen, chairman of the district People’s Committee.
Many farmers have also faced a shortage of fertilizers and pesticides for their farming.
“The authorities are trying mobilizing more people to carry goods to the mountain and are seeking solutions to complete the site clearance soon,” Yen said.
Many locals have blamed construction work on the mountain for causing the disaster. They said the holy mountain is 710 meters above sea level, and there have been previous rockslides in the area.