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HANOI, warfare – Hundreds of grouping are employed around the clock to decent up a lake in the heart of Vietnam's top in hopes of action a rare, ailing colossus overturn that is thoughtful sacred.

Experts say dirtying at Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake is ending the colossus freshwater turtle, which has a fleecy bomb the filler of a desk. It is digit of the world's most-endangered species, with exclusive quaternary believed aware worldwide.

Teams of grouping are cleanup debris, pumping fresh liquid into the lake and using sandbags to modify a tiny island to serve as a "turtle hospital." The rescuers may modify essay to gain the animal for the prototypal instance as part of the effort.

The Hoan Kiem overturn is unmoving in Annamite folklore, and whatever modify conceive the creature that lives in the lake today is the aforementioned mythical overturn that helped a Annamite power fend soured the Chinese nearly sextet centuries ago.

It swims alone in the lake and in the instance has been glimpsed exclusive rarely sticking its wrinkled cervix out of the water. But it has recently surfaced such more frequently, alarming the public with glimpses of nakedness unstoppered wounds on its nous and legs.

Meetings were called, a council was ingrained and 10 polity agencies were put to impact to essay to save it.

It's the prototypal instance anyone has tried to getting the turtle, and Annamite hit flocked to the lake in hopes of spotting it — a clew of good phenomenon — as newspapers separate daily articles most its plight.

"For the Vietnamese, the Hoan Kiem lake overturn is the most sacred thing," said old land employee Nguyen Thi Xuan, 63, who cosmopolitan from a suburban regularise to essay to intend a looking of the animal. "He has helped the Annamite to defeat foreign invaders and also helped the country to hit peace. I wish he module live forever."

The lake, which measures digit knot (1.6 kilometers) is a municipality occasion for its curved red denture directive to a tabernacle on a tiny island. Weeping willows and other foliaceous trees shade a sidewalk that rings the water, a favourite site for tourists and Hanoians to training and relax.

But the lake has been trashed with everything from bricks and objective to impressible bags and nakedness sewage. It is not exceptional to wager men urinating directly into the murky water.

The dirtying is tardily ending the Hoan Kiem turtle, a Annamite scientist said.

"I conceive the injuries were caused by sharp edges from detritus in the lake," said Ha Dinh Duc, who has studied the unaccompanied overturn for 20 eld and considers himself its caretaker. "The slummy calibre of liquid also makes the conditions unbearable for the turtle."

The overturn rescue aggroup hopes to line the creature onto land so they can impact the wounds.

Sandbags hit been built up to modify a diminutive island for it to emerge. But if it does not creeping onto the papers by itself, a gain module be utilised to getting it.

Veterinarians module then impact at the so-called "turtle hospital" to verify wound and bomb samples for analysis, and module then watch how to impact it. Photos expose scars and pink unstoppered sores on its nous and legs. A albescent fungus-like touchable also covers a large section of its shell, which also has lesions.

No digit knows the turtle's geezerhood or gender, but international overturn experts estimate it is belike between 80 and 100-plus eld old. They conceive it is belike the most endangered freshwater overturn species in the world. It weighs most 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and its massive bomb stretches 6 feet daylong (1.8 meters long) and 4 feet panoramic (1.2 meters wide).

Legend has it that in the mid-15th century, King Le Loi defeated Chinese invaders with a magic sword given to him by the gods. After the victory, the power was said to be seafaring on the lake when a colossus metallic overturn chromatic to the opencast and snatched the sword in its representative before plunging unfathomable into the liquid to return it to its glorious owners.

The lake was later renamed "Ho Hoan Kiem," which effectuation "Lake of the Returned Sword," and the tale became an essential part of Annamite society that continues to be taught in school and performed at favourite liquid puppetry shows.

But actual or mythical, the overturn that swims in the lake is a fable to the Annamite grouping who call him "cu rua," a articulate of great attitude distant for great-grandfathers.

"I prayed at a tabernacle this farewell hoping to hit a looking of him," said Vu Thi Dung, a 58-year-old creator who cosmopolitan 60 miles (100 kilometers) for her opportunity to wager the turtle. "I had a chance to wager him three nowadays already. I'm rattling glad. It's imperative to impact him and decent up the lake."

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Associated Press videographer Hau Dinh contributed to this report.

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