Mr. Nguyen Van Son, Party Secretary of Nam Hoa Commune (Thai Nguyen Province), confirmed on the morning of October 13 that a sludge reservoir at the iron and steel refining plant operated by Thai Nguyen Black Metallurgy Joint Stock Company had ruptured.
The Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also provided details about the incident later that morning.
The reservoir, built on a hillside, burst its embankment, releasing a massive flow of thick sludge downhill that covered farmland, fish ponds, and nearby residential areas.
According to a preliminary report from the Nam Hoa Commune People’s Committee submitted to the Department, about five meters of the reservoir’s embankment collapsed, sending sludge through acacia plantations and residential areas before pooling in Ao Sen Lake in Doan Ket Hamlet. The eight-meter-wide earthen dam of Ao Sen Lake also gave way, flooding nearby fields and damaging crops.
Vice Chairman of the Nam Hoa Commune People’s Committee Kieu Xuan Thinh said the reservoir had since drained completely, with no further sludge outflow detected.
Initial assessments reported one drowning death, two injuries, the collapse of ten houses, severe damage to dozens of roads and schools, landslides along nearly 3,000 meters of roadway, and the loss of over 500 hectares of rice fields, along with tens of thousands of livestock and poultry. The total damage was estimated at more than VND19 billion (approximately US$780,000).
Local authorities have evacuated residents from high-risk zones, deployed emergency teams to repair damage, provided essential supplies to isolated households, and coordinated with environmental agencies to assess potential contamination. Thai Nguyen Black Metallurgy Company has temporarily suspended reservoir operations for restoration and safety assurance.
