Images of a dilapidated apartments in Ho Chi Minh City

The remaining residents of one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most ramshackle apartment buildings are unwilling to leave despite obvious threats to their own safety.

The Hang Phan apartments sit next to an open-air market covered by umbrellas in the southern metropolis’ District 4.

The 50-year-old building has a spider web of electric wires, weathered walls, and decaying concrete structures with steal rebars poking out.

The Hang Phan apartment buildings and the umbrellas covering the market below in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A damaged part of the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Many of its 112 families who live in the buildings earn a living by doing business at the market and send their children to a school nearby.

While the municipal government has condemned the blocks, residents maintain that the place is still safe and that they would prefer to spend money on revamping the building rather than moving elsewhere.

Authorities found a developer to renovate the buildings ten years ago but the company has failed to carry out the planned project.   

It was only in December of this year that they finally decided to find a new developer.  

The government will canvass the dwellers’ views on a list of options to be made for the apartment blocks before selecting the most favored choice.

A small garden at the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Next-door neighbors talk near hanging laundry at the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The market next to the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The market next to the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Students walk near the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tenants repair part of the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Children study at the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tennats sit in a corridor of the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Pigeons kept by a family in the Hang Phan apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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