Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued instructions that require Ha Tinh authorities to mobilise all available resources to search for and rescue workers who are still trapped inside the rubble after the scaffold accident late March 25.

A scaffold structure collapsed at around 8pm on March 25 at the construction site of breakwaters as part of Son Duong seaport in Vung Ang Economic Zone in the central province of Ha Tinh . Latest reports said at least 14 were killed in the accident, tens of others were injured while two workers are still stuck inside the rubble.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai cut short his working trip to Quang Ngai province to rush to Ha Tinh to guide the rescue work.

Meanwhile, Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung has requested Ha Tinh provincial People’s Committee to set up an inter-sectoral team to investigate the causes of the scaffold collapse.

Arriving at the scene of the accident on March 26, the minister said the investigation should focus on the process of scaffold assembling and disassembling based on national safety and technical standards, contractors’ capacity and safety management, and the supervision responsibility of the investor and relevant State management agencies in the province.

Minister Dung also asked the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and Ha Tinh authorities to inspect labour safety management across other works of the project invested by the Formosa Hung Nghiep company.

The Construction Management Agency, in conjunction with the State Agency for Construction Quality Inspection and the Construction Technology Institute, coordinate with the MoLISA and Ha Tinh authorities in inspecting quality management, labour safety and construction technology at the construction site.

On March 26, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Dinh Son visited victims who are receiving treatment at the General Hospital of Ky Anh district.

The province gave 3 million VND for each injured worker and 2 million VND for each bereaved family.

Immediately after the accident, the Ministry of Health sent doctors from Hanoi’s Vietnam-Germany Hospital to Ha Tinh to help with medical treatment for the victims.-VNA