Nghe An: Saving a man swept away by floodwaters at night

On July 3, heavy rain occurred in Quy Hop district (Nghe An). The spillway of Ban Inh (Chau Loc commune) was flooded due to floodwaters from upstream.

At around 8pm on July 3rd, after attending a party at a local resident’s house, on his way home, Mr. Nguyen Van Thao, a resident of Chau Loc commune, tried to cross the strong floodwaters that were flooding the spillway. The floodwaters were so strong that Mr. Thao was swept away.

The victim then luckily grabbed a bamboo bush in the middle of the stream 10 meters from the shore and climbed up to the top of the bamboo tree to call for help. Hearing the cry for help, passersby called some youth union members, the commune police force and nearby people to come to the rescue.

The scene where the man was swept away by the water. Photo: Phan Giang

At the time of heavy rain, the flash flood water flowed very strongly, making rescue work difficult. The rescue team chose a safe location, used a rope to pull Mr. Thao across the flood water to the shore safely and organized a search and rescue operation for the victim's vehicle.

The spillway bridge in Chau Loc commune is a place where flooding often occurs when there is heavy rain upstream. At this spillway point, there have been cases where vehicles and people have been swept away while trying to cross the bridge during floods.