Man rescued after drifting 10 km on southern Vietnam river

Nguyen Minh Thu was transporting salt from a ship onto land near the Long An Port on Sunday afternoon when he slipped and fell into the water. He tried to swim back, but the currents were too strong, leaving him no option but to drift away.

Several of his coworkers found out what happened, but Thu was already too far away, so they called the authorities.

After over an hour, border guards of Hiep Phuoc Port in HCMC’s Nha Be District received reports about somebody drifting on the Soai Rap River section near the port. Thu was weakened after spending a long time in the water. Border guard forces then used boats to rescue him.

Thu has been taken home in HCMC's Can Gio District.

The Soai Rap River, spanning 40 km, is the natural border between HCMC’s Can Gio and Nha Be Districts, between Can Gio and Long An’s Can Giuoc District and Tien Giang’s Go Cong Dong District.

A dredging project is ongoing at the river so that ships with a capacity of 70,000 tons can enter Hiep Phuoc Port.

For several years, dozens of people have been saved by border guard forces at the river section that Thu was rescued.