Woman dies in storm: The pain of those left behind

(Baonghean.vn) - For the past two days, the house of Mr. Nguyen Duy Kim's family in Tan Thanh block, Quynh Thien ward, Hoang Mai town has been filled with an atmosphere of mourning. The family, relatives and neighbors are still in shock over the sudden and painful passing of Ms. Mai on the fateful stormy night.

We visited Kim's family in the late afternoon. The house was crowded with neighbors and relatives who came to offer condolences to the family. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - the older sister of the victim Nguyen Thi Mai (1969) wiped away her tears and said: "I feel so sorry for Mai, she passed away so suddenly without leaving any last words. Mai was very diligent, working hard all day to take care of her husband and children, who would have thought that God would punish her"...

The provincial Red Cross Society gives money to support the victim's family. Photo: Thanh Thuy

She said that Mai and Kim have four children together, two boys and two girls. The life of a farmer is hard, working in the fields all year round but not getting better. With many children and a husband who is sick and often hospitalized due to lung disease, in 2007, Mai decided to switch to the scrap collection business. At first, she collected at her house in Tan Thanh block. After many years of saving, they were able to build a decent house. But fearing that the scattered scrap would affect the environment, they decided to move to a level 4 house nearly 1km away from their home to both live and use as a scrap collection site. The children still live in the old house, and the couple takes turns going back and forth to take care of them.

Despite the hardships, the couple still tried to take care of their children's education. The eldest daughter had just gotten married, the second daughter had finished school and was waiting for a job, and the two sons were in college. Ms. Mai always believed that her parents had worked hard, so they should try to make it up to their children, so that they could study and earn a living. Unexpectedly, before the mother could fulfill her wish, disaster struck.

On the evening of Sunday, July 16, after dinner, although they had heard that a storm was coming, they thought it would only be level 7 or 8 and would not cause any problems, so Mai and her husband drove to the scrap yard to sleep. Late at night, the wind started to get stronger, the corrugated iron roof swayed and swayed. The couple's eldest daughter called to ask about them and urged them to come home, but Mai reassured her that everything was fine.

At around 3am on July 17, a sudden big storm blew the roof off the house and the entire wall made of clams collapsed, crushing Mai's bed. Hearing a loud "bang", Mr. Kim, who was sitting on the bed next to him, quickly looked over and saw that Mai was crushed under the rubble. Panicked, he rushed over to dig through the clams and mortar and helped Mai up, calling out "Mai! Mai!" but she did not respond. Turning her over, he was in pain when he saw that half of her head and one of her arms had been crushed. He only had time to call his younger brother but it was too late, Mai died on the spot due to severe injuries.

In pain from his wife's sudden death, Mr. Kim seemed to have no strength left to get up. He relied on his brothers and neighbors for all the funeral arrangements. The hard-working man could not hold back his tears when talking about the fateful night that separated his family. Severe pneumonia made his breathing difficult. The woman he loved the most, the support for the whole family, had unfortunately passed away. Storm No. 2 has passed, but the pain and loss will never subside in the hearts of those left behind./.

Thanh Thuy

(Hoang Mai Radio)