Crossing the only road overnight to deliver aid to isolated people in Lao Cai

(Dan Tri) - After 12 hours of traveling from Hanoi , the Dan Tri newspaper team arrived at Viet Tien commune (Bao Yen, Lao Cai) - a place heavily affected by the recent flood, promptly delivering relief supplies to the people there.

Mud rose meters high, landslides were dense.

At nearly 10pm on September 16, under the dark porch where it was impossible to see people's faces, Ms. Luong Thi Doi and dozens of people in Tan Ben village (Viet Tien commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai ) stared at the road ahead. As soon as they saw the car headlights, everyone's faces lit up with joy. One person shouted loudly: "The car is here!". On September 16, hearing that the charity group of Dan Tri newspaper and readers will come to deliver gifts to support people after the historic flood, Ms. Doi and other households in the village were present at noon at the village's cultural house, waiting for many hours to receive the gifts. In the condition of no lighting, lack of rice and urgency due to the severe impact of the flood, the people here are looking forward more than ever to the sharing of the community.

The road was difficult to access, the Dan Tri newspaper delegation's car departed at 10am in Hanoi but did not reach Tan Ben village until 9:30pm, taking 12 hours to travel. Many people have been waiting since noon (Photo: Hong Anh). Viet Tien commune is located in the south of Bao Yen district, Lao Cai. The road leading from Bao Ha commune to Viet Tien commune has been seriously eroded and cannot be repaired, so the road through Lu street - National Highway 70 has become the only road. However, this road has also been eroded in many places, a large amount of rock and mud has been pulled back and risen several meters high, completely cutting off the area from the outside. Viet Tien commune is only 7km from Phuc Khanh commune, where the Lang Nu disaster occurred, killing 52 people, leaving 14 missing and 15 injured. Due to being cut off, the people of Viet Tien only learned of this heartbreaking news a day or two ago. Many people were shocked to hear that their relatives and friends were also victims buried in Lang Nu.

Dan Tri newspaper representative and Mr. Bui Trinh Hai (right), Chairman of Viet Tien Commune People's Committee, checked the list of people receiving relief gifts that night (Photo: Trung Kien).

Immediately after Dan Tri newspaper received information about the damage in the locality, on the morning of September 16, a group of reporters quickly withdrew from Hanoi to Viet Tien commune, bringing with them many necessities such as rice, solar lamps, generators, necessities, etc. Due to traffic disruptions, landslides and mud spilling onto the road at many points, the Dan Tri newspaper group had to take a detour, taking more than 12 hours to reach the People's Committee of Viet Tien commune. At nearly 10 pm, the group continued to go deeper into the isolated village areas. Here, more than 90 households in Tan Ben village had been anxiously waiting for many hours. Ms. Ly Thi Giang (Tan Ben village) said that for a week, her family had been living with flickering kerosene lamps when the whole commune had a power outage since September 10.

Ms. Ly Thi Giang received gifts of rice, solar lamps, and flashlights. She planned to leave them at a friend's house and borrow a motorbike to take them home 2km away the next day. (Photo: Trung Kien).

The house is located at the foot of the mountain. On the night of September 8, after a loud explosion (locals call it an earth explosion), rocks and soil flooded in and buried the kitchen and part of the corner of the house. Her family had to evacuate, the rice in the house was wet, she received support from the authorities and villagers to partially fix the problem. "My family has a 20-month-old baby. Every time it rains at night, I'm afraid, I don't dare to sleep. Food is running out, we can't connect to the outside world, we only dare to eat to survive, afraid that we will slowly die. I have never witnessed such a terrible flood and landslide," said Ms. Giang.

People watch instructions on how to use solar lights (Photo: Trung Kien).

We are ready to wait through the night

Holding a solar lamp and 10kg of rice, cooking oil... Mrs. Ha Thi Lim, Tan Ben village, was moved to tears. Mrs. Lim said that she had walked more than 2km over a hill to wait for the relief team from Dan Tri newspaper. ForMrs. Lim, these were practical items that she and many other household items were "looking forward with red eyes". Mrs. Lim lives in an area deep inside Tan Ben village, and has suffered from a power outage for more than a week. While households near the commune center have had electricity restored, the area where Mrs. Lim lives are still in the dark.

Many practical gifts including battery storage devices, solar energy, and generators were given to the people (Photo: Trung Kien). In the same situation, many families living near Ms. Lim's house only had kerosene lamps for lighting. They used them sparingly because they didn't have any oil for lighting. Many families did not have time to eat early and had to burn wood stoves for light. Without electricity, they could not grind rice, some had to eat cassava. Because they were so hungry, some people even braved the rain and waded through the mud to Ben Coc bridge (5km from their stopped house) where the relief teams to distribute gifts because the landslide made the road impassable.

Ms. Luong Thi Doi happily received gifts from readers of Dan Tri newspaper (Photo: Hong Anh).

Ms. Luong Thi Doi (Tan Ben village) shared that she was happier than Tet when she received the gifts. Solar lights and rechargeable flashlights are "more precious than gold" to her family at this time. "I was very touched when I received the gifts from readers, philanthropists and Dan Tri newspaper. We were given food, clothes, and lights. These are very useful gifts," Ms. Doi said. Ms. Doi and many other people said they were willing to wait all night, hoping to receive lighting equipment for their families. Also in Viet Tien commune, on the morning of September 17, representatives of Dan Tri newspaper continued to present 130 gifts to household in Gia Thuong village, the most flooded area in Viet Tien commune in recent days. From early morning, more than 100 household items were present at the commune People's Committee headquarters, bringing sacks and plastic bags to contain rice, cooking oil, etc. Many people had to walk and carry goods home because their vehicles were damaged due to flooding for many days.

People arrived early, preparing bags to receive gifts. The list of recipients was carefully checked to avoid confusion. (Photo: Hong Anh). The flood water rose rapidly on the night of September 10, leaving only the roof of Ha Thi Tuyet's house visible. All the furniture on the first floor was damaged. Pots and pans were swept away, the gas stove and refrigerator were broken... Ms. Tuyet did not know when life would return to normal. The gifts from readers of Dan Tri newspaper helped Ms. Tuyet somewhat overcome the difficulties after the floods. "When in trouble and floods, I feel more clearly the love and care of people across the country. Receiving gifts from benefactors in person, I am extremely grateful," said Mr. Hoang Van Thang (59 years old, Gia Thuong village). Mr. Phung Van Phu, Head of Gia Thuong village, said that compared to other villages in Viet Tien commune, Gia Thuong village suffered more damage because it is located in a low-lying area, was flooded for many days, 3 people died, 4 houses completely collapsed. Local people were very excited to receive timely relief.

In Gia Thuong village, 3 families lost relatives due to landslides. These families and many others received gifts from readers of Dan Tri newspaper (Photo: Trung Kien).

The gift from Dan Tri readers is very practical and helps people stabilize their lives.

In 2 days, 227 households of Gia Thuong and Tan Ben villages received 3.2 tons of rice, 2 generators, 500 units of medicine, 220 solar lamps, 220 bottles of cooking oil, 220 packets of spices, 190 rechargeable flashlights, 15 boxes of medical supplies; presented to the People's Committee of the commune 1 generator, rice... Representatives of Dan Tri newspaper on behalf of readers visited, encouraged and supported 3 families of the commune that suffer losses, each family 5 million VND. Sharing with reporters, Mr. Bui Trinh Hai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Viet Tien commune (Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province) said that as of 4:00 pm on September 16, the road to the commune had just been temporarily repaired to open to traffic.

After the traffic was restored, the people of Viet Tien commune received timely support (Photo: Ha Trang). Previously, after days of prolonged rain and floods, 100% of the villages were isolated, hundreds of houses (90%) were affected, 10 houses were buried and completely damaged; 100% of the rice and crop areas were damaged. In particular, the rain and floods killed 3 people in the commune due to landslides. In recent days, the people in the commune have been completely isolated and cut off from the outside. The only road leading to the commune was severely eroded, and the water level rose high. The people's lives are very difficult. To have a phone signal to contact the outside for rescue, the cadres of Viet Tien commune themselves had to walk for kilometers to neighboring communes.

Leaders of Viet Tien commune share the difficulties of the locality with representatives of Dan Tri newspaper. On duty to deal with the aftermath of the storm and flood for many days, the commune chairman said that his clothes were always soaked and covered in mud (Photo: Hong Anh).

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Viet Tien commune was moved to say that the relief gifts from readers and Dan Tri newspaper were very meaningful and really necessary for the people in stabilizing their lives and restoring the economy . "As of September 16, Ham Rong village in the commune was still isolated and inaccessible, and electricity had only just been restored in some central areas. Therefore, the people here are in great need of solar lamps, flashlights, generators... In particular, there is a great shortage of rice. The flood washed everything away, the rice milling machine was also broken, there was no electricity to mill the rice. Some communes people used plows and harrows to mill the rice but there was no oil, they could not mill, and the rice was flooded and sprouted. We really do not know what else to say, we are very grateful to the beneficiaries and readers of Dan Tri newspaper . With generators, solar lamps, rice, medicine... the people are very excited, very happy and joyful. These gifts are more precious to us now than gold", said Mr. Two.

Knowing that the relief team of Dan Tri newspaper continued to provide relief to the people in the flooded areas in Viet Tien commune, Bao Yen, Lao Cai, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong - CEO - General Director of WinnGroup Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company - went to the place to give relief supplies. The relief supplies that Mrs. Huong and her husband sent to the flood victims were 3,000 units of medicine and antiseptic solution to help people prevent and fight diseases during and after the flood. Previously, on the morning of September 12, Mrs. Huong also sent 1,000 units of medicine and medical supplies to the relief team of Dan Tri newspaper.

Giao Hang Tiet Kiem Joint Stock Company supported a truck carrying relief goods from Dan Tri newspaper readers to the flood area.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/tam-long-nhan-ai/xuyen-dem-vuot-duong-doc-dao-trao-cuu-tro-toi-ba-con-bi-co-lap-o-lao-cai-20240917145001177.htm