Landslides kill 16, injure 10
Two children among dead, as mud rushes through hillside village
Family members mourn the deaths of two children
- ucanews.com reporter, Yen Bai
- Vietnam
- May 28, 2012
Three landslides claimed 16 lives and injured 10, destroying 12 houses and damaging hundreds of hectares of crops, after 10 to 40cm of rain fell over five days in northern Vietnam last week.
A landslide killed two children, Hoang Van Ha, 11, and Hoang Quoc Anh, 5, and ruined two houses in Bao Hung village in Yen Bai province on May 24.
Land from the hill behind his house fell on his house and killed the children while they were in their beds, said Hoang Van Thanh, 37, the father. His wife and eldest daughter were injured, he added.
“We borrowed money from a local bank to build the new house costing 100 million dong (US$5,000) at the foot of the hill because we don’t have enough money to buy land,” he said.
The following day, a landslide killed Joseph Tran Van Dat, 82, in the same village, while two others also died in the province.
Le Ngoc Quynh, vice-president of the village, said 22 families moved to other places for safety and 54 other families were still living at the foot of the hill after the landslide. The local government provided temporary tents for local residents.
Marie Nguyen Thi Thuy, a Caritas worker in Hai Phong, where a landslide and heavy rain killed nine people and injured four others, said local Caritas workers visited and offered 55 million dong to help the victims.
Thuy said the victims lived in poverty and worked as breadwinners of their families. “I do not know what their wives are going to do to support their young children,” she said.
Hai Phong was most severely hit area, with nine deaths and five injured. Yen Bai saw five dead and four injured, and Cao Bang had two deaths and one injured.
A landslide killed two children, Hoang Van Ha, 11, and Hoang Quoc Anh, 5, and ruined two houses in Bao Hung village in Yen Bai province on May 24.
Land from the hill behind his house fell on his house and killed the children while they were in their beds, said Hoang Van Thanh, 37, the father. His wife and eldest daughter were injured, he added.
“We borrowed money from a local bank to build the new house costing 100 million dong (US$5,000) at the foot of the hill because we don’t have enough money to buy land,” he said.
The following day, a landslide killed Joseph Tran Van Dat, 82, in the same village, while two others also died in the province.
Le Ngoc Quynh, vice-president of the village, said 22 families moved to other places for safety and 54 other families were still living at the foot of the hill after the landslide. The local government provided temporary tents for local residents.
Marie Nguyen Thi Thuy, a Caritas worker in Hai Phong, where a landslide and heavy rain killed nine people and injured four others, said local Caritas workers visited and offered 55 million dong to help the victims.
Thuy said the victims lived in poverty and worked as breadwinners of their families. “I do not know what their wives are going to do to support their young children,” she said.
Hai Phong was most severely hit area, with nine deaths and five injured. Yen Bai saw five dead and four injured, and Cao Bang had two deaths and one injured.
