Girl’s body found two days after being washed down drain in Vietnam

By Phuoc Tuan   September 22, 2017 | 01:19 am PT
Girl’s body found two days after being washed down drain in Vietnam
A person stands next to a sewer where a girl was washed into as heavy rain flooded the street on Wednesday. Still image from video by Phuoc Tuan
The teenager slipped while trying to push her motorbike to safety during a heavy downpour.

Police in the southern province of Binh Phuoc have found the body of a schoolgirl who was washed down a drain on a flooded street during heavy rain two days ago.

The body of the 11th grader was found in a lake 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the drain on Friday morning.

“The body was covered with weeds and garbage,” said a member of the search team.

The girl, named Uyen, was driving a motorbike from school on Wednesday afternoon when a thunderstorm struck and quickly flooded the street. She was forced to dismount her bike and push it to the sidewalk, but slipped in the process and was swept away.

Eyewitnesses said that it all happened so fast they were unable to help her.

An official said the water rose at least 0.8 meters in just half an hour during the downpour. Apparently, the drain was not covered by a grate at the time.

Locals said the pipe runs 25 meters under the street and into the lake. The floodwater on the street is very rough every time it pours, and motorbikes are often swept away.

Open drains often have tragic consequences in Vietnam during the monsoon season.

A year ago, an eight-year-old boy in the neighboring province of Binh Duong was found dead 40 hours after being washed into a sewer following heavy rains and flash floods.

A nine-year-old boy also died in a similar accident in the same province in September 2014. His body was found two days later.

 
 
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