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Doan Thi Nga was cooking lunch when the explosion shook her village in Nam Ba Don Commune, Ba Don Town in Quang Tri Province.

Dust blanketed the area and rocks rained down on a cluster of nearly 40 households that sit within 500 meters of the quarry operated by 207 Joint Stock Company.

Five homes had their roofs punctured or tiles shattered. Rocks landed in gardens across the neighborhood, damaged several tombs and even fell onto the nearby North-South railway, forcing patrol crews to clear the tracks before trains could pass.

“Luckily I had not yet lain down for my midday rest, so I escaped danger,” Nga said. The fibro-cement roof of a lower section of her house was also destroyed, with fragments scattered across the floor.

Many houses have punctured roofs due to blasting and quarrying

Nguyen Kim Ngan, another resident, found a rock nearly the size of a human head had punched a 20 cm hole through her roof, landed on a bed and split into three pieces. “If my child had been napping at home like usual, it would have been very dangerous,” she said.

Residents say the danger is not new. The quarry blasts twice a day, at around 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., and flying rocks have hit the neighborhood before. Many homes have developed cracks from the repeated vibrations. Residents have filed complaints and provincial inspection teams have visited, but the problem keeps recurring.

The quarry was licensed in 2011 on a nearly 5-hectare site with a 30-year permit. It borders the Gianh River, an inter-commune road, the North-South railway and the residential area.

Phung Quang Dat, the company’s director, said drillers failed to detect a hollow cavity inside the rock formation before setting the charges. When the explosives detonated, the void amplified pressure and launched rocks far beyond the expected blast radius, he said.

Nguyen Van Khanh, chairman of the Nam Ba Don Commune People’s Committee, confirmed five houses were damaged and no one was injured. The commune has ordered the company to suspend operations and reported the incident to the provincial People’s Committee and relevant departments to determine the cause and propose remedial measures.