Maximum effort to find the victim's body
Share the pain
Share the pain
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai visited the victim's family. |
On the morning of December 17, when the fog still covered the mountains and forests, we were present at the scene of the accident and witnessed hundreds of workers staying up all night, struggling with the scattered rocks to drill and search for the unfortunate victims. The engineering force was transporting mines to the top of the mountain to detonate the large rocks.
The survey team of the Engineering Command agreed on the blasting plan. |
Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, a worker at Song Da 2 Company, with a tired face after a sleepless night, recounted: At about 2 am, the 400-meter-high landslide caused a loud noise and red dust covered the entire construction site. While we were drilling and searching for rocks, the mountain of rocks continued to slide down. Fortunately, the team was alert so no one was injured. Currently, the mountain peak behind has a crack about 3 meters wide and hundreds of meters long that tends to tilt toward the scene, so it is very dangerous for the rescue team.
At this location, 3 workers were buried in the excavator. |
Busy with directing the search and rescue work, Mr. Dao Duy Tan - Head of the Hydropower Management Board took the opportunity to tell us: Last night, the rescue team found and removed 3 bodies from the scene. Although the victim Pham Van Thich was discovered early in the evening, it was not until 2am that he was removed. Immediately afterwards, we held a memorial service and brought the 3 bodies back to their hometown. Currently, the rescue team has mobilized hundreds of workers, soldiers, and police to the construction site along with 6 excavators and 400 kg of explosives to support the search. However, the work is currently facing difficulties due to the large amount of collapsed earth and rock, up to more than half a million m3.3, some places were buried up to 50-60m, with blocks of rock weighing up to hundreds of tons. Meanwhile, the ground is narrow, the risk of subsidence is still occurring and the search is expected to last for months. Mr. Tan added that in the meeting this morning, the Steering Committee's viewpoint is to find the most optimal and safest solutions to ensure rescue. The highest goal is to retrieve the bodies of the brothers at all costs, and if we can keep the mine, that's good, otherwise we still have to accept losing the mine. It is known that today, the engineering force continues to lay mines, using excavators to clear the way to bring the drilling machine up. At the same time, they are re-measuring the entire scene to determine the volume of rock and soil, and making a detailed plan for the immediate work.
Focus the air drill on places that machine drilling cannot reach. |
The fourth victim found was Le Cong Tu - born in 1986, in Cong Ly commune, Ly Nhan district, Ha Nam province - a worker of Song Da 2 Company. Because the victim was crushed by a large rock, it was difficult to identify him, but thanks to the working mobile phone, the correct identity was determined. He added that the case of the victim Trinh Ba Ky (born in 1957), from Ha Tay, when found, had his hair cut 2 days before the accident. Mr. Le Cong Danh, Le Cong Tu's father, was in tears: "Just the other day, my son called me and told me: in a few days when I receive my salary, I will send money back to my parents to build a bathroom, who would have thought!". A relative of Tu's family said that the family is in very difficult circumstances. Tu is the youngest child, having just finished studying Geodesy, Intermediate level, he was able to work at Song Da 2 Company for more than a year now. Tu is a twin and the youngest child in the family. His parents are poor farmers, and Tuan (Tu's twin) had to go all the way to the South to find work. Although Tu's grandmother is not old, she has been in poor health for decades, and Le Cong Danh (Tu's father) is only 54 years old, but due to hardship, he looks like an old man. It is known that on the fateful afternoon (December 15), upon hearing the news that his youngest son had an accident, Mr. Danh took a bus from Ha Nam straight to Tuong Duong. For the past 3 days, he has not slept a wink because of anxiety and love for his son...
Engineers prepare explosives to bring to the scene. |
Minister of Construction Do Hong Quan went to the scene of the accident to direct and urge units to urgently carry out rescue work.
As of the afternoon of December 17, a number of domestic organizations have donated nearly 100 million VND (typically: Ho Chi Minh City Police Newspaper, Tuoi Tre, Red Cross, Nghe An Labor Federation...).
At the time of this article going online, rescue forces in Ban Ve have8th victim's body found. Currently determining identity.
Article and photos: Manh Hung - Tran Hai
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