Several households in Dak Mar Commune have installed water filters hoping to make their water safe to drink

Residents of a hamlet in the central highlands province of Kon Tum say they live in a “cancer village” after 11 villagers were diagnosed with the disease.

Only eight of the village’s 173 households can afford water filters which cost at least VND2 million (US$121) each, Tuan said.

Vietnam’s annual per capita income is still below $1,000.

After local residents raised concerns about the high incidents of cancer, the Tay Nguyen Institute of Epidemic Prevention sent experts to the hamlet to collect water samples but the results have not yet been announced.

Hamlet resident Dao Thi Mai said her 64-year-old husband Nguyen Thien Tuy was suffering end-stage cancer. Tuy’s first symptom was a fingertip-sized tumor on his neck that grew quickly and now restricts his breathing.

Hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were unable to cure Tuy.

Of the 11 villagers diagnosed with cancer, seven have already died.

Reported by Ya Ly