VietNamNet Bridge – Soaking a new shirt that was brought from a local market in detergent water for about 15 minutes, when washing the shirt, Ms. Phung was appalled to discover thousands of creatures like leeches crawling, growing and reproducing very quickly.



Many curious people flocked to Ms. Ngo Thi Kim Oanh’s house in Quang Hung hamlet, Hoa Quang Nam commune, Phu Hoa district, Phu Yen province, to see these "aliens."

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phung, 55, Oanh’s mother, said, on January 13, she bought the shirt at the Hanh Lam market.

Coming home, she soaked the shirt in soapy water for about 15 minutes. She then found several small white spots emerging on the cloth. She continued to soak it for a while and when washing the shirt she was appalled to discover thousands of creatures, looking like leeches, small as grains, crawling on the shirt.

"These creatures grew more and more and then laying eggs and reproducing very quickly," Ms. Oanh said.

Mr. Thi, Oanh’s father, tried to burn the creatures by kerosene, even soaked them in herbicide, but they still do not die and continued to reproduce.

"They grew very fast and also laid eggs very fast. After a day and night, they grew from the size of a toothpick to the size of the top of a chopstick and laid milky eggs," Thi said.

Oanh's family reported the incident to the local authorities. The authorities sent samples of the strange creature to a lab.

Mr. Thi dug a hole to burry the creatures and sealed the hole to prevent them from spreading out.

This is the first time Phu Yen detecting "aliens" in the ready-made clothes. The incident has caused a stir around the villages in the region. Many people are confused and stoped purchasing clothing for the Tet festival. Clothing stalls at the Hanh Lam market do not have customers.

Manh Hoai Nam