With large numbers of people returning home to HCM City after Tết (the Lunar New Year), highways in the Cửu Long (Mekong) delta are clogged with vehicles.

Congestion on a stretch of National Highway 1A in Tiền Giang Province on the evening of February 19. 

Yesterday, thousands of vehicles caused a five-kilometre gridlock on National Highway No 60 either side of the Rạch Miễu Bridge in Bến Tre Province.

The bridge handled around 17,000 vehicles a day during Tết, 3,000 more than on normal days. When two accidents occurred on it on that day it caused vehicles to back up on either side.

The Rạch Miễu Bridge links the provinces of Tiền Giang and Bến Tre.

Also on February 19 National Highway 1 A running through Tiền Giang Province was also blocked for many hours.

But by around 9pm the number of vehicles travelling on the highway was sharply down.

The city’s eastern gateway was distinctly quieter on February 19. — VNS