Dinh Huu Du - Be a bird flying high in the clouds of Yen Bai

Over the past three days, not only the staff and reporters under the roof of Vietnam News Agency but also many colleagues in the journalism community have been burdened with grief upon hearing the sad news. At noon on October 11, while reporting on the flood situation in the Thia bridge area in Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai, reporter Dinh Huu Du, of the VNA's permanent office in Yen Bai, was suddenly swept away by the flood. In a series of news bulletins on electronic newspapers, on television and radio channels, or in status lines on social networks, everyone prayed for a miracle to happen to Du.

Dinh Huu Du on the way to work (Photo: VNA internal magazine)

But the miracle did not happen. On the afternoon of October 13, Du was found nearly 100km away from the accident site.

Reporter Dinh Huu Du, born in 1988 in a village in Tan Trung, Tan Thanh, Ninh Binh city. He graduated from class 27, Academy of Journalism and Communication, was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam right at university, and then continued to complete his Master's degree in journalism. Passing the VNA's reporter recruitment exam in 2016, he was assigned to work in Yen Bai from October 1, 2016.

The passing of the passionate reporter Dinh Huu Du left all his relatives, friends and colleagues shocked and heartbroken. It had been a long time since so many tears had fallen! Even those who had never met the young man who had worked at the agency for just over a year could not help but shed tears. Those who knew him, worked with him, or had only had the opportunity to chat with Du a few times, all felt as if they had lost a loved one in their family.

No one could believe that the friend, the younger brother with the lovely smile, had never returned. We would no longer be able to see the colleague who, despite his juniority, was always ready to be on the front line. Readers would no longer be able to read the touching articles or watch the footage he shot under the familiar pen name Giang Phong.

The story of the young reporter Dinh Huu Du and writers will be told forever about hope and the tireless dedication of journalists.

Dinh Huu Du, even though you cannot fulfill your own simple dream, to us you are still a bird flying high in the clouds of Yen Bai, a bird gliding like the wind over mountains and rivers like the pen name you often use. You will forever remind us to live and give our all as you once did.

Morning Determination and the Hat in the Flood

Three days have passed since Dinh Huu Du - a reporter for the Vietnam News Agency met with an accident while reporting on the flood situation in the Thia bridge area (Van Chan district, Yen Bai), his friends and colleagues are still in shock.

“My heart ached when I learned that Du was swept away by the flood. From that moment on, I kept hoping for a miracle to happen. However, my wish did not come true! The anger of nature took the life of my younger brother, my close colleague. It was heartbreaking to face the truth that he would never return, would never travel with me on the road to work; but I felt somewhat comforted because he would no longer have to lie alone and cold in that muddy place. He would be brought back to his family, his hometown, back to the arms of his parents,” confided Pham The Duyet, a reporter for the VNA’s permanent office in Yen Bai.

Scene of Thia bridge being destroyed by flood and two pillars washed away. (Photo: Chi Tue/Tuoi Tre)

The hat bobbed on the waves

During his conversation with us, Pham The Duyet could not hide his emotions. Many times, his voice choked up. Long silences interspersed the story. Duyet was trying to calm himself.

“I never imagined that my brother and I would never be able to meet again to indulge in stories about our careers and lives,” he sobbed.

According to Pham The Duyet, on the morning of October 11, upon hearing the news of floods and rising water levels in Nghia Lo town (Yen Bai), he and his colleague Dinh Huu Du immediately traveled by motorbike from Yen Bai city to Nghia Lo town to report, update and reflect the situation.

“We set off at 10am. After about two hours of continuous driving, we arrived at the scene. It was raining heavily, water was splashing into our faces, it was burning and our vision was severely affected. According to the initial assignment, I would take photos of the scene, Du would film and record images when the flood came,” Duyet said.

Memories flooded back like a slow-motion film, revealing sad images before his eyes. Two reporters from VNA chose Thia Bridge - a five-span bridge connecting Van Chan district with Nghia Lo town of Yen Bai province - as their reporting location.

And then the flood water rolled in, turbid and rushing.

“At around 12 noon on October 11, I used a telephoto lens to take a photo. However, due to the heavy rain, the lens quickly blurred. I told Du (who was filming on the bridge at the time) that I would go to a covered place to change the lens and then come back immediately. Unexpectedly, those were the last moments we stood shoulder to shoulder, the last words we exchanged. A fateful work trip!,” Pham The Duyet recalled, his voice choked with emotion.

While changing the lens, Duyệt suddenly heard the roaring sound of water. Following the natural reflex of a news reporter, he immediately turned back to the bridge. Standing at the edge of the bridge, while raising the camera to take a picture, he suddenly saw a bridge span being destroyed by the raging water, floating under the water was the image of a helmet - that was Dinh Huu Du's helmet.

Stunned. Dazed. Duyet could not believe his eyes. Coming to his senses, he realized that the broken bridge was where his colleague had just been filming. So Du had fallen and was swept away by the rushing water. The helmet appeared and disappeared in the waves. It gradually faded and became smaller with the flow.

“Where is Du?! My heart was pounding. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was so shocked, I looked helplessly at the hat but couldn’t reach out to hold Du back. From that moment on, I kept hoping for a miracle. Someone would pull him to shore…”, reporter Pham The Duyet shared.

He said that in the past, whenever he heard the news of someone missing in a storm or flood, he always felt heartbroken. However, in that fateful moment on the afternoon of October 11, when he witnessed his colleague and close friend being swept away by the raging water, he truly felt the sense of loss and pain.

The image of the helmet bobbing on the water kept flickering, haunting Duyet’s mind. “I always felt like Du was in front of me. He smiled gently, working diligently in the pouring rain,” Duyet confided.

The moment Du was found, relatives, colleagues and friends fell silent and cried.

Go home, Du.

Immediately after receiving the information, on the afternoon of October 11, the leaders of the Vietnam News Agency in Hanoi urgently established a special task force to go directly to Yen Bai, assigning staff to contact and welcome relatives of reporter Dinh Huu Du's family from Ninh Binh to the scene where the reporter went missing to carry out search activities.

VNA and Yen Bai province closely coordinated, mobilizing forces divided into 7 groups to search for victims swept away by floods and missing; at the same time, implementing appropriate plans for situations that arise.

From the search and rescue scene, reporter Pham The Duyet said that the working group believed that reporter Dinh Huu Du was swept away by the water and then possibly got stuck in the large bamboo bushes around the area. Therefore, the agency directly hired local people to cut bamboo and search in this direction.

After the terrifying hours of the flood, the area returned to its usual peaceful state. The devastation and desolation haunted the minds of those present. Everyone's eyes were filled with anxiety and pain as they looked towards the broken bridge where Du had his accident, with an undying hope.

From Hanoi, the Youth Union of VNA and dozens of colleagues from other newspapers also launched a fundraising and support movement to share the difficulties and losses of Dinh Huu Du's family in the search.

However, in the late afternoon of October 13, the official news that the body of the unfortunate reporter had been found was announced. His relatives, colleagues and friends were once again silent, choking with tears.

During the resistance wars for national independence, the large contingent of VNA journalists were truly journalist-soldiers. They were present in the hottest places of the war, living and fighting with the soldiers and the people. Not only did they record events as historical witnesses, they also directly participated in and contributed to making those historical events.

Generations of reporters and technicians of VNA went to the battlefield and more than 260 of them remained on the battlefield forever. Their blood was absorbed in every news, article, photo, and film sent back from the fierce battlefield. Valuable information to support and share the fire with the battlefield from the areas hot with bombs and bullets contributed to the great victories of the nation in the cause of liberating and defending the Fatherland." (excerpt from the article "Vietnam News Agency - 70 years of growing up with the country")

In turn, Dinh Huu Du continued to write the heroic and tragic epic of VNA in peacetime.

No VNA staff or reporter could believe that when the country was no longer filled with gunfire, one of their colleagues would still fall.

And you're too young, Du...

"Why don't you come home to eat the food I cooked, Du?"

In the impression of colleagues and friends, Dinh Huu Du is a gentle, quiet and thoughtful young man. To become a journalist, he had to go through many ups and downs and events. However, the love in the heart of that young reporter has never cooled down.

Even until he fell on Thia bridge on October 11, Du still maintained that enthusiasm.

VietnamPlus reporters recorded the sharing of colleagues who worked closely with reporter Huu Du.

Journalist Pham Thanh Ha (Editor-in-Chief of New Women Magazine)

Hearing the bad news, Dinh Huu Du, a VNA reporter, was swept away by floodwaters while working in Yen Bai. Shocked, I sat down to look through old files on the computer, looking for the report that the Thoi Nay Department sent to the Editorial Board of Nhan Dan Newspaper asking for Du to sign a contract. That was in 2011.

Perhaps the longest time Du stayed in a newsroom was at Thoi Nay, even though he was not an official reporter.

That year, Du had just graduated, but he had been collaborating with Thoi Nay newspaper for much longer, probably since his third year of university. Du was diligent, when he was still in school he would visit the newsroom a couple of times a week, but after graduating, he would come by almost every day to see if he had been assigned any articles. The Thoi Nay department always had many young reporters who had just graduated or were interns, so it was often noisy. Du was quiet, he often sat in one place.

I don't remember clearly, but it seems that Du kept a picture of Lenin on the table where he often sat. The young student expressed his dream of becoming a political reporter. In his third year of university, Du was already a Party member, and it seemed that Du decided that the place he wanted to become a reporter was the Party newspaper.

But the Thoi Nay section at that time, according to the Editorial Board, was full. The Thoi Nay section's submission was not approved by the Organization Department, even though it wrote very well about Du. Du quietly waited, waited, and went to study for a master's degree. When Du said he was going to study, I blamed him a bit, studying was expensive and his family was poor, he should find a way to work. But Du still finished his studies, and still hoped his job application would be approved.

Sometimes, when I saw Du come and sit in his usual place, as Du and everyone in the department believed for nearly three years, I felt heartbroken by that patient belief. Knowing very well why we were not allowed to hire more reporters, one day I had to tell Du straight, there was no hope in the Thoi Nay department. You just keep writing to publish, you are a regular contributor to Thoi Nay, but I think it will be very difficult to officially come here.

I will never forget Du’s disappointed eyes at that moment. It was like he was falling apart. And I understood that it was not just a job, but also Du’s dream of becoming a political journalist that was shattered. But there was no other way to say it, at that time, although I felt sorry for him, I still thought that breaking up was a way that young reporters naturally had to face. Life is long.

Du wanted to be a reporter for Thoi Nay so much that long after his application was rejected by the organization department because Thoi Nay was not allowed to take on more people, Du still came every day, eating lunch cooked by me.

Then, out of pity for her, one day I told Du: "I always have food, but there is no hope for work here, Du must go find work elsewhere."

Not long after Du left, he took the entrance exam to the Communist Magazine and got a high score, but he still couldn't get in. The boy worked hard but wandered around. I felt sorry for him but didn't know what to do. Sometimes Du went to Nhan Dan newspaper, where he had many friends, to Thoi Nay, but then it gradually became less frequent and I didn't see him anymore.

Until half a year ago, Du made friends with me on Facebook, and in response to the question of how he was doing, Du happily informed me that he had passed the exam to enter the News Agency, and now he was residing in Yen Bai. I was happy that Du had a job at a big newsroom, Du could become a journalist the way he wanted.

“Life is still long, and you are still very young” - I remember telling Du not to be disappointed, when he could not stay at our newspaper. When this door closes, other doors will open, you just keep going, keep believing in yourself…

After 5 years of wandering to become a reporter, the big door that had just opened to my life was also closed by a fierce flood.

Journalist Nguyen Hong Minh (Deputy Head of People's Electronic Department)

A few years ago, Du was a journalism student interning at Thoi Nay Newspaper - a publication of Nhan Dan Newspaper. During that time and after finishing his internship, Du sent articles to Nhan Dan Online Newspaper. We often received hot news and in-depth articles from Du. From the beginning, I was impressed by the name you signed under the article, because such articles are rarely seen in student interns, even for reporters who have entered the profession, they still need a lot of experience to get.

What I remember most is the series of articles Du wrote about environmental pollution in the Day River. When we edited and published those articles, we received a lot of feedback from readers.

In journalism, perhaps the hard work, passion for the job, professional qualifications, technical skills and even character will all be revealed through each person's "products". We saw in Du - an intern - very valuable things.

That's why, when our colleagues in Yen Bai sent news to the editorial office about a Vietnam News Agency reporter being swept away by floodwaters, when we read the name, we were all shocked and remembered her.

That afternoon, along with processing many news articles sent from all over the provinces reporting the damage caused by flash floods, we were at the newsroom very late, until the night when we finished work, we were still haunted by the image of her young and determined face. The next morning, at the newsroom meeting, everyone was silent when talking about her - a young colleague, who could be said to have sent us his first articles - with great pity.

That's journalism - always moving forward, facing danger. This loss has left us with a lot of anguish and thoughts.

I hope Du's loved ones overcome this loss, and are always proud of Du.

Reporter Pham Duc Chung (VTV24 News Center)

In August 2014, Mr. Du and I started working at VTV24, and then had the chance to join the traffic team. My first impression of him was a guy with modest height, thick eyebrows, a simple, gentle smile, and always carrying an old leather briefcase with him like a "commune cadre."

He was a man of few words! He rarely interacted with anyone. I still remember clearly the image of a young man wearing wide-legged pants and a faded plaid shirt sitting attentively writing in a corner of the office.

Because we were in the same group, Du and I had many opportunities to work together, talk and even write articles. At that time, I was new to journalism, while he had previous experience.

When I was with him in the field, I learned a lot, from how to approach a problem to how to exploit information. And when I came back to write articles, whether it was to criticize or give suggestions, he only whispered and never raised his voice, even though I was 4-5 years younger than him.

Mr. Du was one of the people who stayed with me in the traffic group the longest before he left VTV24.

The day he stopped working, there was nothing fancy or congratulatory except a small greeting, a gentle smile and a sincere handshake like the man he was.

Reporter Phan Hai Tung Lam (VNA's permanent office in Bac Giang)

The sunny weather reminded me of a rainy day in Hanoi, the day he and I first met. It was a crowded room, where a new class of reporters were welcomed at the Vietnam News Agency.

To me, he was the most outstanding person that day, with his short stature, simple clothes, thoughtfulness, silence... in the middle of a noisy place with a forest of elegant, shiny clothes. Those were my first impressions of him - Dinh Huu Du.

We were assigned to the same group for more than a month, meeting every day, chatting and discussing. I didn’t like to talk about work, and he didn’t like to talk about personal matters. It seemed like we couldn’t get along, but in fact we got along very well, because one liked to talk and the other liked to listen. He listened to everything about me without a single comment, just smiles. Then on the last day, before we took on new assignments, heading to faraway places, he told me: “I like you, I like you very much, Lam.”

The young reporter with a gentle smile.

Mr. Du loves Hanoi. Since he left, he occasionally posts a picture of the Turtle Tower or the Old Quarter on Facebook with a few lines saying “I miss the Capital.” When he has a chance to return to his hometown, he often stays in Hanoi for a few hours, walks around Hoan Kiem Lake and finds a way to meet us. We often sit in small coffee shops, chatting about all sorts of things, from life to work.

Mr. Du is a journalist who writes about beauty. He often tells me about his trips to the deepest, most remote, and most difficult places. Once, in Tram Tau - the most difficult and difficult commune in Yen Bai province during the rainy season, he and his colleagues lost a camera lens due to an impact while working. When he told me, he just smiled, smiled brightly, because he thought it was "worth it."

He writes about cultural events, customs and traditions that are the beauty of local people, and examples of good people who make life more beautiful. In his topics, he often gives priority to children, especially those in the highlands. He hopes that his writing can bring more warm clothes, more books and more schools to the children.

In early 2017, he was one of the people who initiated a movement to donate old books to children in mountainous areas of difficult districts such as Mu Cang Chai and Tram Tau. I am sure that the movement will be completed, those books will reach the children, one way or another.

On the afternoon of October 11, while reporting on the flood situation in Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai, reporter Dinh Huu Du of Vietnam News Agency was suddenly swept away by the flood. For more than two days, the search did not stop. Du's colleagues, friends, and relatives still looked forward to Yen Bai with unfailing hope.

Reporter Dinh Huu Du (second from right) working in Mu Cang Chai (Photo: VNA internal magazine).

Hope never fades

As we write these lines, the search for Du has come to an end. The miracle that we all hoped for could not happen. The young reporter from Ninh Binh has forever remained with the land and sky of Yen Bai.

Everyone who knew Du was stunned when they heard the sad news from the flooded area. Over the past two days, hope was the only thing that did not fade away. From relatives, friends to colleagues... everyone believed that Du was just lost in the villages, and that he would return, to sit together and share about the disaster that day...

With that belief, dozens of people braved the flood to Nghia Lo, searching along every meter of the muddy Thia River. Hundreds of thousands of others eagerly followed and prayed for her safety from afar.

His closest friends refused to share about the reporter in distress because of that hope. To them, Du, as usual, was busy with a pre-planned trip and would return tomorrow...

“That kind yet miserable guy will be back soon. We feel both sorry and angry at him for leaving, not knowing what to do,” a close friend of Du’s from university sobbed.

Phan Hai Tung Lam, a colleague who joined Vietnam News Agency on the same day as Huu Du, also felt pain over the unfulfilled promise: “He also promised to come back this weekend, and have a drink together. I am still waiting for that promise to come true.”

Until the very last minute, no one stopped believing that, Du! No one dared to think that the trip to Thia bridge would be your last journey in this present life.

At this moment, Facebook is flooded with pictures of young reporter Dinh Huu Du and his emotional shares.

A younger brother, a colleague, wrote with a heartbroken heart: “Brother, what can I say, you made an appointment with me tomorrow night and you came back so early? Was the wine meant for me to drink alone? Brother, isn’t it strange that the person who completed the unfinished topic ‘Unfinished Bridges’ accepted to unfinished his life on an unfinished bridge in a faraway place like that? Well, in the end, the small debt, the big debt to life, you will all pay off!”

Journalist Bui Doi lamented:
“Hey Du, hurry up and come home!
My friends are waiting at the foot of the bridge.
My family is waiting with great pain
Don't go anymore, in the distance... swirling
A please, please a thousand times!
Go home, finish writing the afternoon news
Come home, my girlfriend said she loved me
Many colleagues, afternoon wine waiting
Oh God, what a torment to the lower world!
What a double sin, husband and wife
My colleague, the pen is bright and the heart is pure.
How could you...blink...into pain."

Looking at the pictures of the young man with a gentle smile always on his lips, I felt sad. The youth, passion and ambition that had just begun in him had suddenly stopped. But Du, those who stayed behind will continue your journey, will find a way to extend the path you have temporarily stopped on.

Du's journey will never end…

Continuing the journey of Dinh Huu Du

"Come back to Du, millions of hearts are burning
Come back to finish writing your dreams…”

During his short career as a journalist, Dinh Huu Du was always concerned about hunger and poverty in Yen Bai where he worked.

Remembering his colleague, reporter Phan Hai Tung Lam shared: “In his stories, he often prioritized children, especially those in the highlands. He hoped that his writing could bring more warm clothes, more books and more schools to the children.”

Because of this concern, in early 2017, Dinh Huu Du was one of the people who initiated a movement to donate old books to children in the highlands of disadvantaged districts such as Mu Cang Chai and Tram Tau. According to journalist Thu Trang (Tin Tuc Newspaper - Vietnam News Agency), Du also intended to establish a book library for children in the highlands of Yen Bai, so "every time he returned to Hanoi, he had to carry a pile of books, doing everything alone."

Du's plan had not yet come true when the kind reporter had already passed away forever in the clouds of Yen Bai. His friends and colleagues could only recall his dream in shock and sorrow.

But one thing is certain: Du’s journey will not stop at Thia Nghia Lo bridge. His journey will be continued by those who stay behind. As Tung Lam affirmed: “I firmly believe that the movement will be completed, those books will reach the children, one way or another…”

Dinh Huu Du passed away while carrying out his mission on the information front. He lay down forever so that the news can continue to flow forever…

Writing up to this point, I remember a pen name that Du often uses, which is also the nickname he uses on Facebook: Giang Phong - a pen name that seems to be a curse on the fate that is closely tied to the mountains and rivers of the ill-fated reporter of Hoa Lu land. I suddenly think: At this moment, the free-spirited young man who once had the desire to soar with the mountains and rivers of the Fatherland has peacefully transformed into a bird soaring in the clouds of Yen Bai.

And, I have a naive belief that: Du's Giang Phong bird will never tire, and continue to watch over the land he was once attached to and loved.

It's time for you to fly freely with your own dream, Du. What you have not done, those who stay will join hands to continue the journey named Dinh Huu Du...

According to Vietnam+