>>> Race against time to find landslide victims: Deputy PM
Speaking at a meeting in Hanoi, Tien, who is also Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, called for prompt efforts in finding the 53 residents missing in landslides in Nam Tra My district and two others in Phuoc Son district in central Quang Nam province, along with crew members of two missing boats from the south-central province of Binh Dinh.
Localities need to keep a close watch on the storm’s development, evacuate residents from areas prone to landslides and floods, and moderate water levels at reservoirs.
Sen. Lt. Col. Tran Tuan Anh from the Border Guard High Command’s search and rescue department said units are coordinating with localities to evaluate losses caused by the recent storms and have mobilised fishing boats to search for missing vessels.
Vehicles and sniffer dogs are ready for search and rescue operations at the landslides in Nam Tra My district, he added.
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung asked the Minister of Defence to dispatch naval and fisheries surveillance ships from Cam Ranh Bay in south-central Khanh Hoa province to rescue the 26 missing fishermen from Binh Dinh.
According to Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Phan Van Giang, as of 1pm on October 29, fisheries surveillance forces had rescued 14 fishermen on Boat BD-98658TS – another fishing boat from Binh Dinh that issued a distress signal out at sea. Efforts are ongoing, meanwhile, to find the 26 other missing fishermen.
Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich requested that forces from Military Zone 5 closely coordinate with local authorities in search and rescue work in Nam Tra My district.
It was reported that two landslides hit the district’s Tra Leng and Tra Van communes on the night of October 28, burying 53 people. The bodies of 16 of the victims have been found.
Three people were killed and eight are missing from another landslide that occurred in Phuoc Loc commune in Quang Nam on the same day. The bodies of the three victims were found on the day.
Storm Molave, the ninth to come through the East Sea (South China Sea) and hit the country this year, had killed one person in the Central Highlands’ Dak Lak province, one in nearby Gia Lai province, and another in central Quang Ngai province as of the morning of October 29.
According to Deputy Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, Hoang Phuc Lam, torrential rains are forecast to continue battering the central region until October 31.
Another storm, Goni, which is now east of the Philippines, is expected to enter the East Sea and trigger torrential rains around Vietnam’s central region on November 5-6, he said.
The two carriers under the Vietnam Airlines Group will again adjust their flight schedules on October 29 due to the impact of Storm Molave.
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced it has moved departure times of numerous flights from and to Vinh Airport to after 1 pm on October 29.
On the same day, it will operate additional round trips between Hanoi and HCM City and Hue, Da Lat, and Pleiku, and on the HCM City-Dong Hoi route.
As Chu Lai Airport in central Quang Nam province will remain closed until the end of October 30, the carrier cancelled all flights on October 29 to and from Hanoi and HCM City.
A day prior, the carrier scrubbed flights to and from airports in the central region: Vinh, Dong Hoi, Phu Bai, Da Nang, Chu Lai, Phu Cat, Pleiku, and Tuy Hoa.
Meanwhile, Pacific Airlines, another member of the group, cancelled six flights on the HCM City-Da Nang route and two others linking HCM City and Phu Cat Airport in Binh Dinh province.
