Two Hmong boys who 'cycled to find their mother' have been handed over to their family.

Lai Chau - On the afternoon of April 21st, two Hmong boys who had cycled through Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province, were brought back to their family in Den Thang B village, Dao San commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province by the police.

According to Bui Van Duy, a police officer from Mai Chau district, after a day of searching, the unit verified the identities of the two lost children. One child is Lu A Sung, 15 years old, whose father is Lu A Khoa and mother is Sung Thi Di. The other child is Ly A Chu, 15 years old, whose father is Ly A Dia and mother is Vang Thi Sua. The parents of both children live in Den Thang B village, Dao San commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province.

The verified information differs completely from the initial account the two boys provided to the Mai Chau district police on April 18th.

Initially, when questioned by police officers in Mai Chau, Sung and Chu said they couldn't remember their full names or the address of their village or commune, only that they lived in Muong Cha (presumably Muong Cha district, Dien Bien province). The two boys are half-brothers. Their father's name is Vu A Khu, Chu's mother is Giang Thi Giong, and Hinh's mother is Thao Thi Su. Since their father passed away, their mother has been working far away, and the two brothers have been collecting scrap metal to make a living and living in a makeshift shack by the roadside. About two weeks ago, the boys cycled to Hanoi with the intention of finding their mother.

"Through information posted on social media, newspapers, and community sharing, on the evening of April 19th, we were able to contact the relatives of the two children in Dao San commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province," Duy recounted.

After verifying with the local police, on the afternoon of April 21st, Mr. Duy, along with an official from Mai Chau district, handed over the two children, Sung and Chu, to their family.

Two police officers from Mai Chau district (center and far right) hand over Lu A Sung (black shirt) and Ly A Chu (yellow shirt) to their family in Den Thang B village, Dao San commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province, on the afternoon of April 21. Photo: Mai Chau District Police.

Mr. Ly A Dia, 34 years old, the father of Ly A Chu, came to the commune police station to pick up his son. Mr. Dia said that Chu is the eldest of four siblings and is currently in 9th grade, about 500 meters from home. On weekdays, Chu and his siblings go to school while their parents work in the fields. Chu often skipped school, and although the family reminded him many times, he didn't listen. On March 29th, Chu didn't come home, but the family didn't look for him because they thought he had gone to a friend's house to play.

"When my son didn't come home for a few days, I went looking for him. Then I asked my uncle (Dia's younger brother) to inquire everywhere, but we still couldn't find him. I thought he had run away from home to work, so I stopped searching, because many children in the village the same age as him do the same," Dia said.

On April 18th, an acquaintance read the missing person notice from the Mai Chau district police and informed the family. It was then that Mr. Dia learned that his son and his friend, Lu A Sung, who lived nearby, had left home 21 days prior to their discovery, a distance of approximately 500 km from their place of residence.

Dia said that the two bicycles Chu and Sung rode were not family property.

Having found his son, Mr. Dia expressed his gratitude to the police officers of Mai Chau district and the community for their help in bringing Chu home safely.

Lu A Sung (left) and Ly A Chu (right) were taken to the Mai Chau district police station for care after being discovered by local residents on the evening of April 18. Photo: Mai Chau District Police.

The head of Den Thang B village, Dao San commune, Phong Tho district, said that Ly A Chu and Lu A Sung are living with their parents in the village. Chu's family is poor, and Sung's family is near-poor; both children's parents are farmers and do not work far from home.

"This is the first time Chu and Sung have run away from home for an extended period. Before this, the two boys occasionally skipped school to wander around, and although their families had warned them, they didn't listen," the village head said.

This person also added that it wasn't just Sung and Chu; several other children in the village had dropped out of school to go to Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Bac Ninh to work as laborers.

Quynh Nguyen

Source: https://vnexpress.net/ban-giao-hai-cau-be-mong-dap-xe-tim-me-ve-gia-dinh-4737050.html