On the afternoon of November 17, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Tiep - Head of the Traffic Police Department of Lam Dong Provincial Police - said that due to prolonged heavy rain, many passes connecting Lam Dong with the provinces have been seriously eroded.
Currently, passes such as Khanh Le on National Highway 27; Prenn Pass and D'ran Pass (National Highway 20) are closed, prohibiting traffic in both directions to overcome landslides.
For Khanh Le Pass, landslide repair work is being jointly deployed by the authorities of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces. However, due to the large amount of rock and soil, the repair work encountered many difficulties.
Therefore, the authorities have not been able to predict the time Khanh Le Pass will resume traffic.
Currently, to move from Khanh Hoa to Lam Dong and vice versa, people can only travel along National Highway 27 through Song Pha Pass.
On the same morning, this pass also had some landslides, after many efforts of the forces, by noon of the same day, traffic through Song Pha Pass had resumed in one direction.
Currently, the authorities have blocked at both ends to regulate traffic on National Highway 27 through Song Pha Pass.
For Prenn Pass - on National Highway 20, landslides are complicated, so from 10am today, Lam Dong province has banned the pass.
The authorities have deployed forces to block the foot of Prenn Pass to guide drivers from Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces through Mimosa Pass to Da Lat.
Meanwhile, at D'ran Pass, landslides have banned traffic since the end of October.
Along with that, mountain passes such as Dai Ninh (National Highway 28B) and Gia Bac (National Highway 28) are still traveling normally.
However, due to rain, the road is slippery and there is a potential risk of further landslides.
The authorities recommend that people should limit travel through the above passes to ensure safety.
In case it is necessary to travel, people from provinces and cities when traveling to Lam Dong need to follow the instructions of the authorities to ensure safety.
