Many trees in HCM City have suddenly died after being suspected of being poisoned.

On a section at Truong Son Street opposite Tan Son Nhat Airport, six Tamarind trees have withered and died.

A vendor on the street said that the trees started losing their first leaves, which made her to think that it was a seasonal phenomenon. But in recent days, branches have dried with more leaves falling.

The trees on Truong Son Street have dried with more leaves falling

Nguyen Van Bao, a local resident, said that, "The city has already lost so much green space due to construction and now the trees are dying. After hearing about the deaths, we came to see and could clearly smell a chemical odour from the stumps. Some 20 days ago, the trees were still in good condition with luxuriant leaves, so we can't see advertising billboards behind the trees. Now, we can easily recognise the billboards as the trees have died and the foliage has thinned out."

Recently, many trees in other local streets have been also in the same situation. For instance, two nacre trees on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street have also experienced similar symptoms. They have almost died and are being waiting to be cut down. Meanwhile, four iron wood trees on Nguyen Van Huong Street have also died for unknown reasons.

According to the HCM City Department of Transport, to date, the department has not yet received a preliminary report from HCM City Park and Green Tree Company, saying that they also detected chemical smell at the stumps on Truong Son Street.

“We suspect that the trees were poisoned and are cooperating with local police on further investigations," the report said.

In May 2015, police in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong arrested a man named Pham Van Hai for his involvement in the poisoning of 684 pine trees in a local commune. Hai initially admitted that he and two others carried out the mass poisoning in late May.

A tree on Street 3/2 in HCM City

According to preliminary verification, a total of 684 pine trees grown on an area of 2.6 hectares were poisoned. He admitted that he and two others injected chemicals into the trunks via holes or slashes that were made with axes, aiming to use the land for a coffee plantation.