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On the morning of September 14, authorities found three more bodies of victims of the horrific flash flood in Lang Nu village (Lao Cai), bringing the total death toll to 51.
On the morning of September 14, a representative of the Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee said that as of 9:00 a.m. the same day, the forces had found the bodies of 3 more missing victims, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. Currently, 33 people are still missing in the landslide that occurred in Lang Nu village (Phuc Khanh commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province).
Earlier, in the early afternoon of September 13, while authorities were searching, floodwaters suddenly poured into Lang Nu village from upstream due to heavy rain on the night of September 12.
As soon as the water showed signs of pouring in strongly, the rescue command issued a warning signal, and all soldiers who were searching for the missing victims urgently moved to a higher location.
After determining safety, the forces continued to search and rescue the missing people.
Sniffer dogs search the mud for missing people in Lang Nu. (Photo: Minh Duc)
On September 12, authorities in Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province also found 115 people from Kho Vang village, Coc Lau commune, who were “suspected missing”. Previously, on September 9, these people discovered the risk of a landslide and called each other to run to a mountain about 1km away to take shelter. At night, it rained heavily, and rocks and soil began to fall, burying 7 of their houses in the village.
The local authorities could not contact them (because they were on the mountain without phone signal), so they initially determined that they were “missing due to landslide”.
According to information from the Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee, as of 7:00 a.m. on September 14, the entire Lao Cai province had 256 people dead, missing and injured due to floods. Of these, 112 people died (Sa Pa 9 people; Van Ban 2 people; Bac Ha 20 people; Si Ma Cai 7 people; Bat Xat 14 people; Bao Yen 60 people); 60 people were missing (Bat Xat 3 people; Bac Ha 14 people; Bao Yen 43 people); 84 people were injured (Sa Pa town 17 people; Bat Xat 10 people, Bac Ha 17 people; Si Ma Cai 10 people; Bao Yen 30 people).
13,302 houses were flooded, landslides, and swept away by floods,…; more than 5,000 hectares of rice, crops, and plants were damaged; many national highways, provincial roads, and state works were seriously eroded and damaged. Total damage was over 3,200 billion VND.
Currently, search and rescue work and overcoming the consequences are still being actively deployed by local authorities and functional forces.
Yuan Ming