'My son has been saved': Inside the all-night rescues during Thai Nguyen’s worst flood in century

His rescue team steered the boat toward the two, but 100 meters from the victims’ spot the boat got stuck in power lines and could not go any further.

Tung tied a rope around his waist and swam through the waters to reach the pair, a woman and her grandfather. That morning the two had been going in a raft to buy medicines for the woman’s sick child when the vessel capsized.

They struggled before clinging to the metal roof of a house on Ben Oanh Street in Tuc Duyen Ward. For 18 hours they sat on the roof and called for help but rescue teams could not reach them. "Saving them was a stroke of luck because the area was filled with strong currents," Tung said.

After helping them buy the medicines and handing the over the duo to another rescue team, Tung and his team continued with their rescue operations.

Bui Tung rescues a woman and her grandfather, who were trapped on a rooftop in Thai Nguyen Province for 18 hours due to heavy flooding on Oct. 7, 2025. Photo courtesy of Bui Tung

Tung and 3 other rescue workers began evacuating people in Tuc Duyen Ward starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. By night they had rescued 40 people.

Their most intense operation was at 3 a.m. on Wednesday when they found three people shivering from the cold in the attic of a nearly submerged single-story house.

One of them, a senior war veteran, had pale hands from spending hours in the cold water. "We had to swim through strong currents to open the door and get them out," Doan Huong, a member of the team, said.

After being pulled onto the boat, the elderly man said: "I thought I was going to die here."

 

 

'My son has been saved': Inside the all-night rescues during Thai Nguyen’s worst flood in century

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On Tuesday Tung’s rescue team received hundreds of phone calls for help from around Ben Oanh suspension bridge.

At midnight that day they were informed that 24 people, including several children, were trapped on a rooftop in that area.

But their small boat could only carry 10 people at a time and so they prioritized evacuation of seniors, women and children. "I was heartbroken to see a two-month-old baby who had been in the rain for hours," Huong said.

Ta Van Hien, 45, one of the 24 rescued, said they had gone almost a day without food or water. "We hoped that a rescue team would come. Even if they could not rescue us right away, they could have brought us some food for us to hold out."

Dozens of rescue teams in riverside communes in Thai Binh worked through Tuesday night to save stranded people.

Nham Quang Van, 42, leader of Rescue Team 116, said his team of 19 members and five motorboats was divided into five groups, each guided by a local resident.

Rescue motorboats from Team 116 evacuate a stranded family in Diem Thuy Commune, Thai Nguyen Province, Oct. 7, 2025. Photo courtesy of Nham Quang Van

At midnight his team was notified that a couple and their two young children had been trapped on a rooftop in Diem Thuy Commune for more than a day and the floodwaters had reached their feet.

Though just a few kilometers away from the site, the team took nearly two hours to arrive.

They had to steer the boat carefully to avoid submerged power lines and poles and the power outage had left the area in total darkness. At times they had to get into the water and manhandle the boat over shallow sections before continuing.

"Just one mistake, like the boat’s propeller getting caught in a power line, could have threatened the lives of my team and the rescued people on board," Van said.

When the stranded family saw the lights from the rescue boat, they waved their phone flashlights and shouted for help. Amid the wind and rushing water the father could be heard calling out: "We are saved, kids!"

By the time they were rescued, the two children were fatigued from hunger and cold after hours in the rain. Their parents’ hands and feet were pale and wrinkled from being submerged for too long. The family was spirited away to safety.

Team 116 continued operating through the night, prioritizing the elderly and children. It had to cut through metal fences to reach some marooned people. "With limited manpower and so many people to rescue, we try to save whoever we find and deliver them to safety as fast as possible," Van said.

Dam Quang Tuyen, vice chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Thai Nguyen Province, said the inundation on Tuesday was the most severe Thai Nguyen has experienced in the last 100 years.

As of Tuesday morning four people had died and two were unaccounted for. More than 5,400 houses were cut off and 490 of them have been evacuated.

Meteorological agencies forecast heavy rains and flooding would continue for the next three to four days, making rapid rescue efforts imperative.

Alongside police and military forces, dozens of rescue teams from nearby provinces have joined the flood relief efforts in Thai Nguyen. More than 50 teams of volunteers are work in flooded areas.

The Huong Pagoda Tourism Service Cooperative in Hanoi has sent hundreds of boats and experienced rowers.

 

 

'My son has been saved': Inside the all-night rescues during Thai Nguyen’s worst flood in century

Những cuộc giải cứu nghẹt thở giữa lũ dữ

After 24 hours of calling for help from inside their home in Phan Dinh Phung Ward, Ly Thi Hoi, 31, and her three-year-old son were rescued and taken to safety.

The waters rose quickly and trapped the two inside their home on Tuesday, and she made many phone calls and posted online messages asking for help. Hoi said her son has pneumonia and needs to go to the hospital daily for shots. "The whole day I was afraid my son would get fever or convulsions."

On Wednesday morning, while delivering bread to some stranded people, a paddleboarder heard Hoi and her son’s cries for help and located them.

When he brought them out, Hoi burst into tears as people came to help. "Thank you, everyone," she said. "My son has been saved."