Rescuers drain river in search of central Vietnam landslide victims

By Vo Thanh November 24, 2020 | 12:21 am PT

A task force has been dredging a river in Thua Thien-Hue Province to locate 11 dam workers still missing after a mid-October landslide.

More than 200 police officers and soldiers have taken part in an operation to look for 11 construction workers of the Rao Trang 3 hydropower plant that are still left missing after a landslide last month. The plant is built on the Rao Rang River deep in the jungle of Phong Xuan Commune of Thua Thien-Hue’s Phong Dien District.

More than 200 police officers and soldiers have taken part in an operation to look for 11 construction workers of Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant that remain missing following the landslide.
On October 12, about half of a hill collapsed on to the camping area and operation facility of Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant, burying 17 workers. So far, only six bodies have been found. The plant was under construction beside Rao Rang River deep in the jungle of Phong Xuan Commune of Thua Thien-Hue’s Phong Dien District when the incident occurred.

An excavator dredges the river as a team stands nearby observing closely to detect any possible signs of the missing workers.With this method, the body of one of the workers had been found.The team has deployed seven excavators for the search along the river. They have dug a canal of 150 meters long, three meters deep and five meters wide to change the flow of the river and built a dam of ten meters long across the river to drain water out of the searching area.On October 12, about half of a hill collapsed on to the camping areas and operation facility of the Rao Trang 3 hydropower plant, burying 17 workers. So far, only six body have been found, which also means six of the workers have been confirmed dead.

An excavator dredges the river as a team stands nearby to detect any possible signs of the missing workers.
With this method, the body of one worker had been found Sunday.
The team has deployed seven excavators for the search along the river. They have dug a canal 150 m long, three meters deep and five meters wide to change the flow of the river and built a dam of ten meters long to drain water from the search area.

Firefighters along with search and rescue police officers use two pumping machines to send water out of the searching area.

Firefighters along with search and rescue officers use two pumps to drain water from the search area.

An officer jumps into the water to fix the pipe of a pumping machine that has been clogged with mud.

A firefighter jumps into the water to fix the pipe of a pump clogged with mud.

Water drained from the searching area is pumped into the canal that the team has dug before flowing to the downstream area.

Water drained from the search area is pumped into the canal the team had dug before entering the downstream area.

The task force is joined by three sniffer dogs.

An officer inspects an area that three dogs have repeatedly sniffed around.

An officer inspects an area focused on by the canines.

Ta Van Chinh, 52, father of one of the missing workers, stick burning incense sticks near the area where the sixth body was found on Sunday. A native in Thanh Hoa Province, 500-km away from where the accident took place, Chinh and his brother in law Le Van Phung, whose son has also been lost to the landslide, have traveled back and forth between the two localities a few times with only one purpose: to bring the bodies of their sons back home. It’s been 40 days since the accident. Our families at home have already set up the altars for them, said Chinh.

Ta Van Chinh, 52, father of one of the missing workers, places burning incense near the area where the sixth body was found Sunday.
A native of Thanh Hoa Province, 500 km from where the accident took place, Chinh and brother-in-law Le Van Phung, whose son had also been lost in the landslide, have traveled back and forth between the two localities with only one purpose: to bring the bodies of their sons back home.
"It’s been 40 days since the accident. Our families at home have already set up altars for them," said Chinh.

What’s left of a metal framework that used to make the dormitory for workers. The searching team has so far found many of the workers belongings including clothes, sandals, mat and motorbikes.

What’s left of a metal framework that used to serve as the dormitory for the dam workers. The search team has so far found many of the workers' belongings such as their clothes, sandals, mats, and motorbikes.

Nguyen Van Phuong, deputy chairman of Thua Thien-Hue (C), is in charge of the searching mission. Following his request, the task force has been focusing their operation on the area in the middle of the Rao Trang River.

Nguyen Van Phuong, deputy chairman of Thua Thien-Hue (C), is leading the search mission. Following his request, the task force has been focusing their operation on the area in the middle of Rao Trang River.

By the end of Monday, more tracks of what used to be to the operation center of the hydropower project but they had yet to detect any more signs of the 11 missing workers. The landslide occurred as the central Vietnam region was being devastated by heavy rains, floods and landslides. At least 235 people either died or went missing amid floods and landslides in central Vietnam in October, with economic damage estimated at around VND17 trillion ($734.67 million), according to the government.

By the end of Monday, more signs of what used to be to the operation center of the hydropower project have been found but the task force has yet to detect any more signs of the missing workers. The landslide occurred as central Vietnam was being devastated by heavy rains, floods, and landslides.
At least 235 people either died or went missing amid flooding and landslides in central Vietnam in October, with economic damage estimated at around VND17 trillion ($734.67 million), according to the government.