Three days ago, An, 37, inspected his 350 m2 pond in Lung Thuong hamlet, Nghia Tho commune. He discovered many snails floating on the surface and others dead at the bottom. Shrimp, crabs, and fish in the pond also died.

Dead snails floating in An's family pond. *Hung Le*

Searching the area, An found a pink nylon bag near the edge of the pond. Inside, approximately 500 ml of a milky, strongly pungent liquid remained, suspected to be a pesticide. The incident was reported to local authorities.

"A day before the incident, a strong chemical smell emanated from the snail pond area. I and others assumed nearby households were spraying mosquito repellent or tending to crops, so we did not take precautions or check," An said.

The snail pond spans approximately 350 m2. *Hung Le*

An's family started raising this batch of snails experimentally earlier this year. This is the first time An bought snail eggs, priced at approximately 500,000 VND per kg, and incubated, hatched, and cared for them for over half a year. He anticipated harvesting them in about one month. The estimated 300-400 kg of dead snails resulted in a loss of 60 million VND.

An stated that his family had no major conflicts with anyone recently. Nghia Tho communal police are investigating the incident.

Duc Hung