Heavy rains in central region leave at least three dead, two missing

At least three people were killed and two went missing while many roads and railways were damaged in the heavy rains over the weekend in the central region of Vietnam.

First statistics showed that three people in Khanh Hoa Province were killed, one electrocuted, one drowned and another wiped away in the water. They have not been identified, Saigon Tiep Thi said Sunday

More than twenty houses in Nha Trang, the province's resort town were collapsed and hundreds of others were 1-1.5 meters flooded.

Meanwhile, Van Cong Trai, the owner of a fishing boat from Binh Dinh Province that was caught in stormy waters on Saturday, has been reported missing along with Nguyen Van Loi, captain of a boat from Nghe An that sank on Friday.

All seven other people on Trai’s boat and the three on Loi’s boat were rescued.

Also on Saturday, the engine of a fishing boat from Binh Dinh carrying ten people cut out in rough waters. As of Saturday night, it is unknown if any rescue attempts have been made.

On Saturday morning, two ships that were anchored off Quang Ngai Province sank, causing damage amounting to more than VND300 million (US$15,400).

Rough waters have prevented rescuers from bringing the ships to the surface.

In related news, the heavy downpours flooded many roads in Phu Yen Province by up to one meter in some places.

As of Saturday, many communes cannot be reached, and flights to and from Ho Chi Minh City have been canceled.

Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa also canceled eight flights to Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang on Friday.

Many trains came to a standstill as landslides damaged the north-south railway line in several places.

Authorities in Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan have planned to evacuate residents to high places as water levels are rising quickly.

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Missing boat and crew return home safely

At 11 am on October 26, a search and rescue ship escorted the fishing boat QNg 66478 TS and its nine crew to Dung Quat 1 Port in the central province of Quang Ngai .

Officials from Quang Ngai provincial administration, Ly Son district and the crew’s relatives and friends gathered at the port to welcome them home.

After their arrival, Cao Khoa, the Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee met the fishermen and asked the local authorities to help them repair their ship so they can resume fishing.

Local agencies and businesses have raised money to help the fishermen and as a result, each of them received nearly 15 million VND.

Mai Phung Luu, the captain, expressed his thanks to central and local agencies for trying their best to get the fishermen home. He also thanked China for rescuing them after their boat had broken down and was drifting at sea.

Quang Ngai People’s Committee presented certificates of merit to the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department and the officers and crew of the Vietnamese Marine Police patrol vessel for their help in bringing the fishing boat home safely./.

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Missing boat and crew to return home on Oct. 25

The Chinese side is ready to hand over to Vietnam fishing boat QNg 66478 TS and its nine-member crew in the afternoon of October 25 due to nice weather at sea.

This information was delivered by Trinh Duc Hai, deputy chief of the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department during an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency in the afternoon of Oct. 24.

According to Hai, officials from the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department met with representatives of the Vietnamese embassy in China at noon on Oct. 24 and informed the Vietnamese side of its plan.

Regarding hand-over procedures, the Chinese side said it will send a fisheries administration boat to bring the Vietnamese fishermen and tug fishing boat QNg 66478 TS, which had its gear box broken down, to a sea area agreed by both sides.

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry promptly informed the National Search and Rescue Committee, the Command of Border Guard force and the People’s Committee of the central province of Quang Ngai .

The National Search and Rescue Committee decided to send a rescue ship to receive fishing boat QNg 66478 TS and its crew to ensure safety for these fishermen and their property./.

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Nine dead, one lost as Mindulle hits central Vietnam

At least nine people died and one went missing in typhoon Mindulle, the National Committee of Search and Rescue reported Wednesday.

The victims were swept away by floods or fell to their death while attempting to strengthen their houses in the storm.

On Monday, Mindulle grew from a tropical depression into a full-blown typhoon.

It weakened, two days later, after injuring at least 58 people and damaging over 40 boats and nearly 32,000 houses, according to the committee.

Mindulle is the third major storm to come out of the East Sea this season.

Damage to tens of thousands of acres of farmland, dykes and bridges were reported throughout the north central region. Formal statistics pertaining to the extent of the damage have, so far, not been released.

In the meantime, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned that, while the typhoon has been downgraded, rains will continue in the central coast and the northern region and could lead to flash floods or landslides.

In July typhoon Conson, the first storm of the season, left at least one dead in Vietnam after killing 68 in the Philippines.

‘A rare accident’

Also on Wednesday rescuers in Da Nang City said they have found ten fishermen who were listed as missing at the beginning of the week.

The Hoa Minh crewmembers were found drifting some 22 nautical miles from the Son Tra Peninsula in severely weakened condition.

Huynh Van Tu, one of the fishermen, said their boat broke down Monday afternoon in the throws of the typhoon. They radioed for help from the Da Nang Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC).

The crew of the SAR 412 reached the fishing boat, but couldn’t approach it due to heavy rains and big winds, the fishermen remained on board, MRCC Director Tran Van Long said.

Rescuers threw the fishermen a tow rope which they secured to their boat, he added.

When the boats were some 15 kilometers off the coast, the tow broke and the fishing boat went missing, according to Long.

“It was a rare professional accident,” he said.

Some locals still raised questions the MRCC’s capacities.

Cao Van Minh, chief of Boat team No. 4 in Hoa Minh District, said when the accident happened they advised the MRCC rescuers to return to the site and focus on areas along the coast.

But, the MRCC refused to redirect their efforts and continued the search in accordance with official directives, Minh said. Local fishermen, meanwhile, weren’t allowed to search the sea for the victims.

In the end, it was local fishermen that managed to find the victims after taking on rescue efforts Wednesday morning.

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Nine dead, one lost as Mindulle hits central Vietnam

At least nine people died and one went missing in typhoon Mindulle, the National Committee of Search and Rescue reported Wednesday.

The victims were swept away by floods or fell to their death while attempting to strengthen their houses in the storm.

On Monday, Mindulle grew from a tropical depression into a full-blown typhoon.

It weakened, two days later, after injuring at least 58 people and damaging over 40 boats and nearly 32,000 houses, according to the committee.

Mindulle is the third major storm to come out of the East Sea this season.

Damage to tens of thousands of acres of farmland, dykes and bridges were reported throughout the north central region. Formal statistics pertaining to the extent of the damage have, so far, not been released.

In the meantime, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned that, while the typhoon has been downgraded, rains will continue in the central coast and the northern region and could lead to flash floods or landslides.

In July typhoon Conson, the first storm of the season, left at least one dead in Vietnam after killing 68 in the Philippines.

‘A rare accident’

Also on Wednesday rescuers in Da Nang City said they have found ten fishermen who were listed as missing at the beginning of the week.

The Hoa Minh crewmembers were found drifting some 22 nautical miles from the Son Tra Peninsula in severely weakened condition.

Huynh Van Tu, one of the fishermen, said their boat broke down Monday afternoon in the throws of the typhoon. They radioed for help from the Da Nang Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC).

The crew of the SAR 412 reached the fishing boat, but couldn’t approach it due to heavy rains and big winds, the fishermen remained on board, MRCC Director Tran Van Long said.

Rescuers threw the fishermen a tow rope which they secured to their boat, he added.

When the boats were some 15 kilometers off the coast, the tow broke and the fishing boat went missing, according to Long.

“It was a rare professional accident,” he said.

Some locals still raised questions the MRCC’s capacities.

Cao Van Minh, chief of Boat team No. 4 in Hoa Minh District, said when the accident happened they advised the MRCC rescuers to return to the site and focus on areas along the coast.

But, the MRCC refused to redirect their efforts and continued the search in accordance with official directives, Minh said. Local fishermen, meanwhile, weren’t allowed to search the sea for the victims.

In the end, it was local fishermen that managed to find the victims after taking on rescue efforts Wednesday morning.

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Vietnam rescues 10 missing in tropical storm

The fishermen are brought to hospital after being rescued on August 25, 2010.

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Rescuers in the central city of Danang late Wednesday found 10 crew of a fishing boat that went missing while seeking shelter from typhoon Mindulle two days ago.

Seven of the 10 fishermen, who drifted on the sea for around 50 hours, were brought home the same day. The rest are being treated on Cu Lao Cham (Cham Islands) in the neighboring province of Quang Nam.

Duong De Dung, chief of Danang Border Police Department, said professional rescue forces had searched for the missing fishermen in two days, but to no avail.

“Everything seemed hopeless,” Dung said. “Many families ashore set up the altars for praying.”

But the crew members of a fishing boat owned by a resident in Danang on Wednesday found a floating body when they were on their searching mission.

When the boat approached the man, they found a total seven men drifting on the waters in critical conditions.

Another fishing boat found other three fishermen floating in a shattered bamboo basket.

The exhausted, thirsty and trembling fishermen said they were saved by life jackets as the storm broke their ship.

The national floods and storms control committee says tropical storm Mindulle also killed nine and injured 58 others when it slammed the north-central coast on Tuesday.

The committee says the storm sank 35 boats and damaged around 32,000 houses.

The third tropical storm of the year made landfall Tuesday afternoon in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces.

A disaster official of Nghe An said strong winds knocked down many trees and blew off roofs of houses in the city of Vinh, the capital of the province. An estimated 74,000 people live in the high-risk coastal areas evacuated before the storm, he said.

In Ha Tinh province, south of Nghe An, officials said more than 14,000 people from coastal villages had been evacuated.

Floods have submerged 24,960 hectares of rice fields in the provinces.

Landslides have caused hours of traffic congestion in Quang Binh and Thua Thien-Hue.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat has issued instructions that require local officials to continue searching for the missing; support the families victims and help their communities deal with the storm's consequences.

They must quickly resolve electricity, communications and transport difficulties and continue to monitor the storm's progress.

Mindulle has weakened into a tropical low that is forecast to continue generating rains in central provinces from Nghe An to Thanh Hoa and the northern delta.

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