Shocked by the pain of families whose loved ones died at the Giang River suspension bridge

The whole village rescued in the night

Mr. Nguyen Van Tiep (31 years old) in Lien Khai hamlet, Thanh Lien commune said: Last night, he and some friends in the hamlet invited each other to play soccer at Thanh Chuong 3 High School. When they just arrived, they heard about a car accident under the Giang River suspension bridge, so they immediately turned back.

In the dark, he and the people present at the scene quickly found their way down to the river, together organizing the search and rescue. "When diving down to the river to reach the car, we decided to open the door to save the victims but couldn't, so we immediately thought of a way to pull the car up" - Mr. Tiep said.

Rescue on Giang River. Photo: Huy Thu

According to Mr. Tiep, the Giang River where the car fell was about 4 meters deep, the car was lying upside down at the bottom. People had to use cables to tie the car to the body and mobilize people standing on the bank to pull it up.

Hundreds of people at the scene joined in pulling the rescue vehicle. To support the pulling of the vehicle in the river, there were also some boats of fishermen. During the pulling, the cable broke once and one boat sank.

Thanks to the efforts of local people and forces present at the scene, after nearly 2 hours of rescue, the crashed car was pulled to shore. At this time, people used tree trunks to break the car door, and took out each victim's body.

Victim Nguyen The Tuan was the first to be pulled out at around 10:03 p.m. The victim who was not in the car, Hoang Anh Tuan (riding a motorbike), was the last to be pulled out. “Tuan was thrown from the bridge, but did not float and sank into the water,” said Tiep.

The daughter of Mr. Tuan and his wife (Thanh Nho) is just over 1 year old. Photo: Huy Thu

Perhaps this was the first time, at the Giang River suspension bridge there was such a terrible car crash. All the victims (1 person on the shore, 4 people fell into the river) were dead. After the authorities worked, the body of Nguyen The Tuan was brought home first, the remaining victims were buried at the scene.

Mr. Tiep added: "Our brothers participated in the rescue in the river as well as the people on the shore pulling the cable, everyone tried their best to find the victim's body. Last night was a night of horror and sorrow, but everyone was very united, thinking about the victims."

Funeral atmosphere at the house of Mr. Dao Van Nam (Thanh Lien). Photo: Huy Thu

Each victim has a different life

Since hearing the news that 5 people died in an accident underGiang River, the atmosphere of mourning covered the poor hamlets in Thanh Nho and Thanh Lien communes. The 3 victims in Thanh Nho commune lived in 2 hamlets but their houses were only about 150m apart. Mr. Le Dinh Anh (born 1983) in Nho Tan hamlet had 2 young children, Le Quoc Viet (8 years old) and Le Dai Phuoc (4 years old).

Anh and his wife used to do business in the South, but later returned home to farm and stay in their homeland. In recent years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga has worked part-time at a garment company, while Mr. Anh stays home to raise cows and pigs... His family has just built a few pig pens, planning to raise a few more pigs to improve the family's economy, but unexpectedly, they encountered an accident.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha (43 years old), Anh's neighbor, said in tears: "I just talked at home, went out for a while and heard the news that he died under the suspension bridge. I was shocked and saddened. Since last night, every time I look at the pictures of the victims, I cry, feeling sorry for them. The whole neighborhood can't sleep at night because of grief and regret."

Funeral of Mr. Dao Van Nam (Thanh Lien). Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Le Dinh Quyet (born in 1973) in Nho Xuan hamlet has 2 children: Le Thi Hang is in her 2nd year of studying at the University of Medicine and Le Van Phong is in grade 10 at Cat Ngan High School. Mr. Quyet and his wife work as construction workers. Thanks to their hard work, his family was able to build a house and send their children to school. Mr. Quyet has studied for a B2 driver's license, planning to buy a small car to drive, but unexpectedly...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan (60 years old), a relative of Mr. Quyet, shared: On the night of October 4, Mr. Quyet's daughter, Le Thi Hang, came home from Hanoi to visit her family. When she passed the suspension bridge and saw many people, she did not know that her father had an accident and was lying in the river. Only when she called her mother and heard Ms. Nguyen Thi Bay, Mr. Quyet's wife, say: "Dad had an accident at the suspension bridge at Chua market", did she cover her face and cry.

Hoang Anh Tuan's daughter next to her father's coffin. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Nguyen The Tuan (born in 1980), also from Nho Xuan hamlet, is the eldest child in a family of 5 siblings. Mr. Tuan and his wife have 3 children: Nguyen Quynh Anh (13 years old), Nguyen The Vu (11 years old), and Nguyen Thi Nha Phuong, over 1 year old. At the beginning of this year, he and his wife bought a 7-seat car on installments for more than 400 million VND, hoping that their business would be successful to revive the family economy. Unexpectedly, before they could pay off their debt, they had an accident, leaving behind their young wife and 3 young children.

Mr. Vi Duc Thang (59 years old) in Chau Nga commune, Quy Chau district, came to visit Mr. Tuan and shared: "Last night, I heard my daughter call and said that there was a traffic accident on the Giang River suspension bridge that killed 5 people, including my husband's brother. My whole family was shocked. This morning, I had to ride a motorbike from Quy Chau to come here in time for the funeral."

Relatives mourn at Hoang Anh Tuan's funeral. Photo: Huy Thu

In Thanh Lien commune, twovictimsin the accident were born and lived in the same neighborhood. That was Dao Van Nam (born in 1993), the 5th child in a family of 6 siblings. Nam was not married, while waiting to go abroad to work, he worked as a worker in Bac Ninh, and had just returned home for a few days. Nam's family was in difficult circumstances, near-poor, his father had passed away a long time ago, and his brother had also passed away because ofaccidenttraffic.

In a small house in the middle of the village, Mrs. Dinh Thi Tin (65 years old) lay down and cried because she missed her son. In recent years, her children have gone to work far away, leaving only her and her son at home. Mrs. Tin works as a small vendor at Chua market. Nam always wanted to successfully go abroad to work so that his family could escape poverty and show filial piety to his mother, however... On the afternoon of October 5, Nam's siblings all returned home to say goodbye to their younger brother in heartbreaking tears.

Leaders and representatives of departments and branches at all levels visited and encouraged families with deceased relatives. Photo: Huy Thu

The fifth victim in the same neighborhood as Nam is Hoang Anh Tuan (born in 1992), who has the most special circumstances. Tuan has completed his military service and is currently a member of the Veterans Association of Lien Khai neighborhood. He is married. The couple has a daughter, Hoang Thi Anh Ngoc (4 years old), but his wife passed away last year.

Having worked as a taxi driver for several years, Mr. Tuan was loved by his friends as a close friend of Mr. Nam. On the night of October 4, the two of them went to play soccer on the other side of the river, and on the way, they had an accident. At Mr. Tuan's funeral, Anh Ngoc was carried by relatives to say goodbye to her father, but she was too young to feel the pain of losing a loved one. In the heartbreaking cries of the family, everyone felt sorry for the child who had lost both her father and mother.

Hearses escorting the unfortunate citizens to their final resting place. Photo: Huy Thu

This afternoon, at the same time in both Thanh Nho and Thanh Lien communes, hearses rolled out to send the unfortunate children of the village to their final resting place in sorrow. The fateful night on the Giang River suspension bridge took away 5 citizens of the 2 communes at the same time. They have passed away forever, but the pain of losing loved ones and the worry of traffic accidents still linger.