In the middle of the night, when it was raining heavily and the wind was strong, a loud noise suddenly came from Mr. Xa Van S.’s house, followed by the 51-year-old man’s desperate cries for help.
In the early morning of September 8, a landslide collapsed the house of Mr. Xa Van S. (born in 1973, Cham hamlet, Tan Minh commune, Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province), killing 4 people and injuring 1 person. After receiving the information, in the afternoon of the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc came to burn incense, express condolences and encourage the victim’s family.
All four victims were from the same family. At the time of the landslide, Mr. S., his wife, daughter and two grandchildren were in the house.
Mr. S.’s house was solidly built with a flat roof, but it was located close to the hillside. Heavy rain caused a large amount of rock and soil from the hill to fall behind the house, then collapsed the house. 5 people were buried in the house, Mr. S. was lucky to escape death and was rescued in time.
Ms. Xa Thi T. (Mr. S.’s sister) recounted: “At the time of the landslide, the house collapsed, it was raining heavily, there was a strong wind, and there was a power outage. While we were lying in the house, we suddenly heard a loud explosion coming from Mr. S.’s house, then heard his cries for help. Everyone ran over and used flashlights to shine in and saw the entire house completely collapsed.”
According to Ms. T., they discovered Mr. S. being crushed by bricks and stones, but because it was late at night, the brick walls and roof were pressing down on his body, so people could not save him immediately. Many hours later, Mr. S. was rescued and taken out of the dangerous area.
Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet, Director of Da Bac District Medical Center, said that after initial examination of Mr. S., the doctor determined that the patient had injuries to his head, chest, and limbs. “We ordered the patient to be taken to the district medical center for imaging to come up with an appropriate treatment plan,” Ms. Tuyet said.
From above, Mr. S.’s family house completely collapsed, both the main house (concrete roof) and the outbuilding (corrugated iron roof). At the time the house collapsed, killing 4 people, the victims were all sleeping in the main house.
The main house was solidly built with a reinforced concrete roof, however, with a large amount of landslides from the hill, the house could not withstand it and collapsed completely, with parts such as walls, roof, and floor crumbling.
Inspecting the scene of the landslide, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc asked the leaders of Hoa Binh province to take measures to support the victims’ families to soon stabilize their lives.
The Deputy Prime Minister awarded 50 million VND in support, and the leaders of Hoa Binh province awarded 75 million VND to Mr. S’s family to take care of the victims’ funerals, overcome the consequences, and rebuild a new house.