Woman dies in storm: The pain of those left behind.

(Baonghean.vn) - For the past two days, the home of Mr. Nguyen Duy Kim's family in Tan Thanh Hamlet, Quynh Thien Ward, Hoang Mai Town, has been shrouded in an atmosphere of grief. Family members, relatives, and neighbors are still reeling from the sudden and painful death of Ms. Mai on that fateful stormy night.

We visited Mr. Kim's family in the late afternoon. The house was filled with neighbors and relatives offering condolences. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, the older sister of the victim Nguyen Thi Mai (1969), wiped away tears and choked back sobs as she recounted: "It's so sad for Mai, she passed away so suddenly without having time to say anything. Mai was so hardworking, always striving to provide for her husband and children, who would have thought fate would punish her like this..."

The provincial Red Cross Society presents financial assistance to the victim's family. Photo: Thanh Thủy.

She said that she and her husband, Mr. Kim, have four children, two boys and two girls. Life as farmers is hard, they work in the fields year-round but haven't been able to improve their lives. With many children and Mr. Kim frequently hospitalized due to lung disease, Ms. Mai decided to switch to collecting scrap metal in 2007. Initially, she collected scrap metal at her home in Tan Thanh ward. After many years of saving, they built a decent house. However, fearing that the scattered scrap metal would harm the environment, they decided to move to a small, one-story house about 1km away to use as both their residence and a scrap metal collection point. The children remained at their old house, and the couple took turns going back and forth to care for them.

Despite the hardships, the couple still tried their best to provide for their children's education. Their eldest daughter recently got married, their second daughter has finished school and is waiting for a job, and their two sons are attending university. Ms. Mai always believed that since her parents had worked so hard, she wanted to compensate for it by giving her children a good education and a profession. Tragedy struck before she could fully fulfill her parents' wishes.

On Sunday evening, July 16th, after dinner, despite hearing warnings about an approaching storm, Mai and her husband thought it would only be a level 7 or 8 storm and wouldn't cause any problems, so they went to the scrap metal collection point to sleep. Late at night, the wind started to pick up, and the corrugated iron roof swayed and shook. Their eldest daughter called to check on them and urged them to come home, but Mai reassured her that everything would be alright.

Around 3 a.m. on July 17th, a sudden, powerful storm ripped off the roof and collapsed the walls of the house, which were built of seashells, burying Mai under the rubble. Hearing a loud crash, Kim, who was sitting on the bed next to her, looked over and saw Mai trapped under the debris. In a panic, he rushed to dig through the seashells and mortar, trying to lift Mai up, calling out frantically, "Mai! Mai!" but she didn't respond. Turning her over, he was heartbroken to see that half of her head and one arm had been crushed. He only had time to call his younger brother, but it was too late; Mai had died instantly from her severe injuries.

Overwhelmed by the sudden death of his wife, Mr. Kim seemed to have no strength left to recover. All funeral arrangements were entrusted to his relatives and neighbors. The weathered man couldn't hide his tears as he recounted the fateful night that tore his family apart. His severe pneumonia made breathing difficult. The woman he loved most, the pillar of his family, had tragically passed away. Typhoon No. 2 has passed, but the pain and loss will likely never subside in the hearts of those left behind.

Thanh Thuy

(Hoang Mai Radio Station)