VietNamNet Bridge – A red water flow suddenly appeared near the coast of Nhan Trach commune in Bo Trach district of the central province of Quang Binh on the morning of April 4, worrying local fishermen, said the Party Secretary of Bo Trach district, Phan Van Gon.

Gon said the red water flow is about 5m wide, 500 meters long. This is the first time the phenomenon has occurred, so local people are very worried.

He also said that dead fish washed ashore of Nhan Trach commune but not much.

The same day Tran Cong Thuat, Deputy Party Secretary of Quang Binh, made a field trip to Nhan Trach commune to inspect the situation. Thuat instructed border guards to cooperate with local authorities to collect and burry dead fish on the coast.

Two foreign experts, a Japanese and an Israeli, and scientists from the Institute of Environmental Technology came to collect water samples in Nhan Trach for studies on May 4 afternoon.

At 4pm on May 4, the red water flow was about 1km long along the coast of Nhan Trach.

Also on May 4, a group of American, German and Israeli experts went o the central province of Ha Tinh on May 4 to begin investigation of the mass fish deaths in the four provinces in central Vietnam (Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue). They came to Vietnam at the invitation of the Vietnamese government.

Earlier, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment took water and sediment samples in Vung Ang to check levels of heavy metals in seawater.

The Ministry also established a national council of experts, led by Prof. Academician Chau Van Minh, President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, to analyze the causes of mass fish death in central provinces.

So far nearly 100 experts from more than 30 research institutes and universities in Vietnam have joined the research of the mass fish deaths. Since April 7 they have collected hundreds of samples for analysis.

Scientists are focusing on the two reasons of biological causes and chemical causes.

Le Ha