VietNamNet Bridge - In relation to recent incidents at the Vung Ang Economic Zone in the Ky Anh District of Ha Tinh Province, local police on Sunday morning arrested and charged 16 people for theft and disturbing public order.

The arrestees in the disturbances in Ha Tinh.

Five men from Ky Anh and 9 others from other parts of Ha Tinh and the central provinces of Nghe An, Quang Binh and Thua Thien-Hue were charged with theft.

Two men from the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Nam Dinh were charged with disturbing the public order.

The suspects include both residents and workers in the Vung Ang Economic Zone. According to the initial investigation, the suspects took advantage of the chaotic situation after anti-China demonstrations, stealing property of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Steel Co., Ltd. They were arrested while attempting to unload the stolen property.

According to Hung Nghiep Formosa, the company suffered losses of over VND167 billion ($8 million) in the incident.

Earlier, the local police also started legal proceedings against a public disorder case at the zone’s Son Duong Formosa deepwater port project on May 14.

The province’s competent agencies are conducting further investigations, while encouraging people to hand in images and video clips on the incident to be used as legal grounds for strictly punishing the offenders under the law.

Many foreign experts and workers were discharged from hospital on May 17 and 18. They thanked doctors and nurses at Ha Tinh hospitals for their timely care and treatment.

Both foreign and domestic workers have resumed normal work at the Formosa project.

These days, Vietnamese and foreign workers have returned to work at the Formosa project’s construction site.

On May 14, a parade in the Vung Ang Zone opposing China’s illegal placement of a drilling rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone turned into a conflict with foreign experts and workers at the Formosa project.

Taking advantage of the situation, some people set fire to the houses of foreign workers and stole company assets, machinery and other equipment.

The province mobilised 600 police and military officers to disperse the crowds and take foreign workers to safe places.

VNN/VNA