Maximum effort is being made to find the victims' bodies.
Sharing the pain
Sharing the pain
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai visited the families of the victims. |
On the morning of December 17th, while fog still enveloped the mountains and forests, we arrived at the accident site and witnessed hundreds of workers who had stayed up all night, struggling amidst the jagged rocks to drill and search for the unfortunate victims. Engineering troops were transporting explosives to the mountaintop to detonate the large rocks.
The survey team from the Engineering Command agreed on the blasting plan. |
Nguyen Van Dung, a worker at Song Da 2 Company, looked exhausted after a sleepless night as he recounted: "Around 2 a.m., a heavy landslide at an altitude of 400 meters caused a loud noise, and red dust covered the entire construction site. While we were drilling through the rocks to search, the mountain continued to collapse. Fortunately, everyone was vigilant, so no one was injured. Currently, there is a crack about 3 meters wide and hundreds of meters long on the mountainside behind the site, which is tilting towards the scene, making it very dangerous for the rescue team."
At this location, three workers were buried under the excavator. |
Busy directing the search and rescue operation, Mr. Dao Duy Tan, Head of the Hydropower Management Board, took the opportunity to tell us: Last night, rescue forces found and recovered three bodies from the site. Although the body of Pham Van Thich was discovered early in the evening, it wasn't recovered until 2 AM. Immediately afterwards, we held a memorial service and brought the three bodies back to their hometowns. Currently, rescue forces have mobilized hundreds of workers, soldiers, and police officers, along with six excavators and 400 kg of explosives to assist in the search. However, the work is currently facing difficulties due to the massive amount of soil and rocks that have collapsed, exceeding half a million cubic meters.3In some areas, the ground is buried under 50-60 meters of earth, with boulders weighing hundreds of tons. Meanwhile, the area is cramped, the risk of further collapse remains, and the search operation is expected to last for months. Mr. Tan added that during this morning's briefing, the Steering Committee's stance was to find the most optimal and safest solutions to ensure rescue efforts. The highest priority is to recover the bodies of the workers at all costs; preserving the mine is ideal, but losing it is necessary. It is known that today, the engineering corps continued to use explosives and excavators to clear a path to bring drilling equipment to higher levels. At the same time, they are re-measuring the entire site to determine the volume of earth and rock and to develop a detailed plan for immediate work.
Focus the pneumatic drill on areas that conventional drills cannot reach. |
The fourth victim found was Le Cong Tu, born in 1986, from Cong Ly commune, Ly Nhan district, Ha Nam province, a worker at Song Da 2 Company. Because the victim was crushed by a large rock, identification was difficult, but thanks to a working mobile phone, his identity was confirmed. He added that the case of Trinh Ba Ky (born in 1957), from Ha Tay province, was confirmed thanks to his newly cut hair, which had been cut just two days before the accident. Le Cong Danh, Le Cong Tu's father, was distraught and in tears: "Just the other day, he called home and told me: 'I'll send money home to build a bathroom when I get my salary in a few days,' who would have thought!" A relative of Tu's family said that the family was in very difficult circumstances. Tu was the youngest child, having just finished his Surveying program at the intermediate level before starting work at Song Da 2 Company more than a year ago. Tu was a twin and the youngest in the family. Tu's parents are poor farmers, so Tuan (Tu's twin) had to go all the way to the South to find work. Tu's grandmother, though not old, has been frail for decades, while his father, Le Cong Danh, is only 54 years old, but due to hard work, he looks like an old man. It is known that on that fateful afternoon (December 15th), upon hearing the news of his youngest son's accident, Mr. Danh took a bus from Ha Nam straight to Tuong Duong. For the past three days, he hasn't slept a wink because of his anxiety and grief for his son...
The engineering corps is preparing explosives to bring to the scene. |
Minister of Construction Do Hong Quan arrived at the scene of the accident to direct and urge the relevant units to promptly carry out rescue work.
As of the afternoon of December 17th, several domestic organizations had raised nearly 100 million VND in donations (including: Ho Chi Minh City Police Newspaper, Tuoi Tre Newspaper, the Red Cross, and the Nghe An Provincial Labor Union...).
As of the time this article is published online, rescue forces in Ban Ve haveThe body of the eighth victim has been found.The identity is currently being determined.
Text and photos: Mạnh Hùng - Trần Hải
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