The tragedy occurred at a private residence in Pleiku, the capital of the Gia Lai province, when a man went down a water well to repair a pump and never climbed out.
Concerned relatives asked their neighbors for assistance and another five people, who tried to rescue the first man, died in the fumes of an unidentified gas that had apparently built up in the well.
According to Vietnamese rescue services, it is the first such accident involving so many victims that has ever been registered in the country.
Despite living among glistening wet paddies, marshes, lagoons and rivers, many Vietnamese experience problems with supplies of potable water. While 78 percent of urban households have piped water, only 44 percent of the rural households are considered to have ready access to safe drinking water, a 2005 report said.
The country has launched about 170 urban water supply projects, valued at close to a billion dollars, to provide clean water nationwide by 2020. For the rural areas, there is an ambitious plan to provide 85 percent of the population with access to safe water by 2010, and 100 percent coverage by 2020.
