Close-up of dilapidated apartment building leaning after storm in Hai Phong

(Dan Tri) - Police, military, and militia forces have set up 24/7 guard posts to prevent hundreds of households from returning to the dangerously degraded apartment building in Ngo Quyen, Hai Phong .

Typhoon Yagi made landfall in Hai Phong on September 7, causing serious damage to people and property. As of September 11, 2 people had died and 49 were injured in the city. The storm damaged nearly 27,000 houses in the locality, of which 60 collapsed;... In the photo is the Van My apartment building in Van My ward, Ngo Quyen district, Hai Phong, which is seriously degraded (level D).

Before Typhoon Yagi made landfall, 303 households living in buildings A7 and A8 of the Van My apartment complex were forced to move to the Maritime Hotel in Van My ward to avoid the storm. During the prolonged rain on September 11, the A7 and A8 apartment complexes were deeply flooded, making it difficult for residents to move around.

Mr. Ho Xuan Thuy, Chairman of the People's Committee of Van My Ward (Ngo Quyen, Hai Phong), said that after the storm passed, on September 9, hundreds of households returned to their old residences, but the authorities discovered that building A7 was tilted about 3 degrees. Therefore, the local authorities asked people to continue evacuating and not to return to their old residences. The authorities have erected barriers to prevent residents and people from entering apartment buildings A7 and A8.

Currently, in Hai Phong, there are 205 old, degraded apartment buildings, of which 97 are at a dangerous level (level D). In recent years, Hai Phong City has demolished 22 old, dangerous level D apartment buildings. In the photo are 3 apartment buildings A7 (far right), A8 and A9 in Van My, Ngo Quyen, which are also among the degraded level D apartment buildings.

At apartment buildings A7 and A8 in Van My ward, police barricades were set up around them to prevent people and residents from approaching these two apartment buildings.

Ms. Bui Bich Hien (65 years old), who lives in an apartment in the tilted A7 apartment building, said that the local government was very concerned and supported people to evacuate in time before the storm hit, so fortunately there were no casualties. "I and hundreds of other households were evacuated to the Maritime Hotel to avoid the storm. My family was informed that we would not return to A7 apartment building to live anymore, the city would arrange for us to live in another apartment building. Currently, we just want to return to the old apartment to get our belongings and money to move elsewhere, but because it is dangerous, the police will not let us in," Ms. Hien shared.

Ngo Quyen District Police officers and local militia explained to residents that it was unsafe to enter apartments in buildings A7 and A8 to retrieve belongings.

Apartment building A7 is tilted and at risk of collapsing at any time, so building A8 behind also had to evacuate residents from the apartments.

This is the front of the A7 apartment building, which is tilted. Due to living needs, residents have expanded the iron cages and covered them with corrugated iron for use.

The brick wall structure of apartment building A7 is degraded, peeling off, exposing the steel core inside.

Many walls of apartment buildings A7 and A8 have peeling plaster, revealing the red bricks inside.

Dr. Vu Thanh Trung, Director of the Institute of Construction Structures ( Ministry of Construction ), said that old apartment buildings were mainly built with bricks, and the material sources at that time were not as good as they are today. These apartment buildings are now not safe in terms of load-bearing capacity, fire safety, and living conditions are not guaranteed. Therefore, these apartment buildings can collapse at any time. Hai Phong authorities said that the A7 and A8 apartment buildings mentioned above were built in the 1970s and have seriously degraded.

The Hai Phong Department of Construction has proposed that districts not allow households to return to live in level D apartments, in order to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. Currently, Hai Phong City's apartment fund has about 846 apartments. Hai Phong will arrange and assign households to live in these apartment buildings. For households that are not allocated housing funds, Hai Phong City will support temporary housing in cash, with an estimated cost of about 3 million VND/month/24 months. After the 24-month period, the above households will be supported and compensated by Hai Phong City for site clearance to buy, rent-purchase, or rent social housing according to regulations.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/can-canh-toa-chung-cu-cu-nat-nghieng-sau-bao-o-hai-phong-20240912123214292.htm