Flood sweeps away three people in central province

Around 10 a.m. on Monday, Tong Thi Trang, 33 and Nguyen Thi Hoa, 31, in Ha Linh Commune were on their way home through a rainstorm after work in Ha Linh Commune, Huong Khe District when they got swept away by the flood.

At 3 p.m., the women’s relatives called the police when the two did not return home.

Due to heavy rain, the search was difficult. Trang’s body was found at the communal house of Village 12 in Ha Linh Commune.

As of 9 p.m., search parties were still looking for Hoa’s body.

Trang and Hoa are sisters-in-law. Both have small children and their families are in difficult economic circumstances.

At about the same time as the sisters went missing, so did Nguyen Van Dung, 13, in Huong Khe’s Huong Thuy Commune.

It was around 3:30 p.m. when the boy was walking on a flooded road in Village 6. He accidentally fell into deep water and drowned. His body was discovered at 8:30 p.m.

In Can Loc District, at 3 p.m., authorities received a report from nine workers who were isolated by the flood at a shack near the Gia River in Son Loc Commune. The rain was initially not heavy before so the workers had paid no mind. After a few hours of heavy rain, the water level rose quickly and they couldn’t leave the shack.

Authorities sent officers on motorboats to approach the shack and after two passes, nine workers were rescued safely by around 5 p.m.

Under the influence of cold air and high-altitude eastern winds, it has been raining heavily in central Vietnam for the past two days, with Ha Tinh recording the highest levels of rainfall.

In addition to flooded houses and highways, the North-South railway was interrupted by landslides and more than 4,500 students in Ha Tinh had to stay home from school. It is forecast that the rain in Ha Tinh will last until Thursday.