About 500 people are searching for victims of the flash flood that buried Lang Nu village, and have found 30 bodies.

The Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee said that 500 people have been mobilized to search for missing victims in the horrific flash flood that buried the entire Lang Nu village. By 1 p.m. on September 11, 30 bodies had been found.

Rescue forces set up a makeshift tent in the yard of the Lang Nu village cultural house to search for missing victims in the terrifying flash flood - Photo: DUC BINH

The death toll from the horrific flash flood in Lang Nu village, Phuc Khanh commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province, continues to rise. By 1 p.m. on September 11, rescuers had found 30 bodies buried after the flash flood.

Searching all night for missing people in flash flood that buried Lang Nu

Speaking to the press at the scene of the flash flood, Mr. Trinh Xuan Truong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Lao Cai province, choked up: "The human loss is too great, it only happens once in hundreds of years." According to Mr. Truong, the provincial government has assigned the search and rescue task to 100 police officers who were recently reinforced to Lang Nu early this afternoon. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shared that Lao Cai often experiences natural disasters, flash floods, and landslides. There was a time when the damage was as great as in 2008 when 14 people died. "But this time, the damage is too great, the whole province has had more than 50 deaths. In particular, the flash flood wiped out 37 households with 158 people in Lang Nu village. As of 1 p.m., 30 deaths were recorded," Mr. Truong informed.

Hundreds of officers and soldiers were mobilized to join the search for missing victims at the scene of the flash flood - Photo: DUC BINH

According to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, there are still 65 people missing in the flash flood in Lang Nu. 17 injured people, including 5 seriously injured people, will be transferred to Lao Cai General Hospital for treatment today. "We will intensify the search and treatment for the 17 injured people and take good care of the lives of the remaining households so that people can soon stabilize their lives. By this morning, the Viettel telecommunications network has been established to reach the center of Lang Nu village and the landslide scene," Chairman Truong said. According to Mr. Truong, currently, a rescue force of nearly 500 people has been actively searching in two directions: a search team at the scene and a team of 150 people searching from the Phuc Long river mouth 6km away to the scene. On the morning of September 11, the forces found 9 bodies. At the scene of the flash flood, it has been raining harder since noon today, making rescue work more difficult. Hundreds of police and military officers and soldiers are gathering at the cultural house yard of Lang Nu village, preparing tools to continue digging through the rubble, peeling off layers of mud to search for missing victims. The Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue of Bao Yen district also mobilized all functional forces to carry out search and rescue work for missing victims throughout the night of September 10.

Establish a field command post in Nu Village

On the night of September 10, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Trinh Xuan Truong crossed National Highway 70 with dozens of landslides to arrive at Bao Yen district to directly direct the search and rescue work. He requested the functional forces to immediately establish a Field Command Center in the area where the flash flood occurred. In the early morning of September 11, reinforcement forces from Military Region 2, units of the provincial armed forces, and many other forces were present at Bao Yen to support the search and rescue work.

Mobilizing hundreds of officers and soldiers to participate in search and rescue

On the afternoon of September 11, the Ministry of Public Security said that the Lao Cai Provincial Police had advised the Provincial Party Committee to direct the military force to preside over and coordinate with the police force, border guards, the Department of Transport, and other functional forces to urgently gather vehicles and machinery to open the way to the scene of the flash flood in Lang Nu village. At the same time, the forces coordinated with local authorities to focus on search and rescue work to resolve the incident. Currently, 200 officers and soldiers of Division 316 of Military Region 2; 80 officers and soldiers of Mobile Police Battalion No. 4, Northwestern Mobile Police Regiment, Mobile Police Command and more than 100 officers and soldiers of Lao Cai Provincial Police and Bao Yen District Police are participating in the search and rescue.

"My family has nothing left, I lost my mother, my wife, and my children..."

Mr. Hoang Van Thoi - a resident of Lang Nu village cried and collapsed next to the body of his relative. Mr. Thoi's family lost many people in the flash flood. Mr. Thoi choked up as he recounted that during the storm and flood, his family's house on this side had a landslide behind the house, which was very dangerous. The whole family went to his brother's house to sleep. The night before, he returned to sleep at his house while his wife and children stayed at his brother's house. Near dawn, he heard an explosion and a rumbling sound as if the sky and earth were collapsing. He ran outside and on the other side, where his wife and children slept, there was only a vast field of mud. "There's nothing left in my house! Everything is gone! My mother, my wife, my children... Five people are lying here, only one of my children and one of my brother's children. They are only two years old," Mr. Thoi cried, covering his face and collapsing next to a coffin made of old planks.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khoang-500-nguoi-dang-tim-kiem-nan-nhan-vu-lu-quet-vui-lap-ban-lang-nu-da-thay-30-thi-the-20240911141316056.htm