7 bodies of Vietnamese people killed in Chinese waters identified

(Baonghean.vn) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just issued a statement regarding a group of people who died while crossing the border from China to Taiwan.

On the afternoon of July 7, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding information related to a Vietnamese citizen who died while crossing the border from China to Taiwan by fishing boat.

“According to information from the Vietnamese Consulate General in Guangzhou (China), recently, Chinese fishermen in Shanwei, Zhuhai (Guangdong province) have recovered the bodies of 9 people suspected to be Vietnamese citizens who died in the waters of this area,” the announcement said.

Immediately after receiving the above information, the Vietnamese Consulate General in Guangzhou coordinated with Chinese and domestic authorities to verify, then coordinated with the victims' families to compare DNA samples. Thereby, 7 bodies were identified as Vietnamese, including 3 victims in Nghe An, 2 victims in Quang Binh, 1 victim in Hai Duong, 1 person in Ha Tinh. 2 bodies have not yet been identified. The Consulate General has assisted the victims' relatives to go to China to bring the remains back to Vietnam.

After receiving requests from seven families to find missing relatives, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the Vietnamese Consulate General in Guangzhou to contact and request Chinese authorities to continue assisting in the search and promptly notify the Vietnamese side.

“Chinese authorities said that recently there has been a phenomenon of people being smuggled across the border to Taiwan by fishing boats in this sea area. Vietnamese authorities are coordinating to investigate the incident,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Neighbors came to offer condolences to the family of victim Hung in Ha Tinh. Photo: Duc Huong.

Previously, on July 6, the ashes of Dao Sy Hung (28 years old, residing in Ky Giang commune, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh) were brought back to his hometown for burial by relatives. According to Dao Huu Thien (48 years old, Hung's father), in early 2017, his son was introduced by friends to a broker in Bac Giang to take him to China and then by sea to Taiwan at a cost of 40 million VND.

At the end of February, Mr. Hung went to Bac Giang with many other people from Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri... to gather, and after that, they would leave for China. Nearly a month later, after arriving in China, Mr. Hung called to inform that on March 31, he would board a boat to cross the border to Taiwan. However, after that, his family lost contact with him.

In mid-June, a resident of Quang Binh province, upon hearing news of a relative’s accident, went to China to claim the bodies and took photos of other victims and their children. He then posted the victims’ photos on Facebook to ask for help in finding his relatives. According to Mr. Thien, a family in Bac Giang province said that when their daughter boarded the ship on March 31, she made a video call to her lover and said that there were 21 Vietnamese people on board.

In this group, there are 4 victims from Nghe An. Among them, the ashes of Le Dinh Hieu (Trang Son commune, Do Luong) and Ho Duc Tien (Quynh Long commune, Quynh Luu) have been handed over to their families for burial. Meanwhile, on July 7, the family of Luu Xuan Hoang (residing in Nam Loc commune, Nam Dan) is completing procedures to bring the ashes of this victim home. As for the victim Nguyen Phuc Toan (Van Thanh commune, Yen Thanh), the authorities are still waiting for DNA samples from relatives to identify the body.

Tien Hung