12 bodies found in landslide that buried 22 officers and soldiers in Quang Tri

At 3:30 p.m. on October 18, the leader of Huong Hoa district (Quang Tri) said that the authorities had found 12 bodies in the incident.Landslide in Huong Phung commune.

Currently, this area is experiencing heavy rain, but over 400 officers and soldiers of Military Region 4, Quang Tri Border Guard, local militia and vehicles are directly participating in the rescue and urgently searching for victims.

The authorities have now repaired the road to allow people to access it. The Forward Command Center team has begun to enter the landslide scene.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong - Deputy Minister of National Defense said the deeper we go, the thicker the mud becomes, making the search more difficult.

At the forward command post, Mr. Vo Van Hung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Tri province emphasized that the rescue force must ensure safety, especially in bad weather conditions. Mr. Hung requested that civilian vehicles not be allowed to enter the scene to ensure safety and create conditions for rescue vehicles to operate.

Rescuers carried the victim's body out. Photo: VNA

Previously, at around 1am on October 18, the mountain suddenly collapsed, falling on the houses of the 337th National Defense Economic Group, stationed in Cop village, Huong Phung commune, Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province. 5 people were rescued, 22 people were suspected to be buried, including 4 officers, 10 professional soldiers and 8 soldiers.

Also in Huong Hoa district, on the evening of October 17, upon receiving news that 7 people from Huong Viet commune who were working in the fields had lost contact, the commune authorities organized a group of 7 officers to search for them, including police, border guards and commune leaders.

On the way, the flood caused a commune police officer to die, 4 people to go missing, 2 others were seriously injured, including the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee and the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Huong Viet Commune. The group of 7 people who went to work on the fields have not been contacted yet.

In addition, at noon on October 18, authorities of Huong Hoa district approached a house buried by a landslide in Huc commune and found all 6 people in this family dead, including a pregnant woman.

At 5 p.m. on October 17, this house was buried by a landslide. Huc commune has been isolated by heavy rain and floods for many days. By noon on October 18, landslides in Quang Tri left 29 people missing.