Da Nang airport cleaner returns $54,000 cash to Japanese tourist

At around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Huong, 57, was cleaning the international terminal of the Da Nang International Airport when she found a black bag left on a chair in a waiting lobby. The terminal did not have any flights departing or arriving at the time. Huong thought that someone forgot the bag, so she informed the inspection department of the Hoan My company, her employer.

Airport authorities then inspected the bag, in which they found U.S. dollar bills and Japanese yen notes 53,780.

The bag and its assets were sealed and handed over to the airport for safekeeping. At around 9 p.m. on Thursday, a Japanese tourist came to get his lost belongings.

The tourist said he came to Da Nang a few days prior, before flying to South Korea on Wednesday morning and leaving his bag behind at the Da Nang airport.

Huong said she had found lost items dozens of times over the last six years working at the Hoan My company, such as phones, laptops and wallets. The bag of money, however, was by far the most valuable asset that she has ever found.

She was awarded VND1 million ($39) by the Hoan My company, and VND5 million by the Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation Company, on Friday for her honest act.