Bodies of 13 rescue team members pulled from landslide rubble

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – As of 7:30pm on October 15, the bodies of all 13 members of a rescue team buried by a landslide in central Thua Thien Hue province’s Phong Dien district had been retrieved.

The bodies were found at ranger station 67 in Phong Xuan commune, Phong Dien district. They will be brought to Military Hospital 268 and memorial services for them will be held at Funeral House 268 in Hue city. 

The rescue team included Major General Nguyen Van Man, Deputy Commander of the Military Region 4, and Chairman of the Phong Dien district People's Committee Nguyen Van Binh.

The 13 were part of a 21-member rescue team set up on October 12 to rescue workers buried by another landslide on a construction site near the Rao Trang 3 hydropower plant, around 13 kilometers away from ranger station 67.

They stopped at the ranger station 67 to rest for the night. Suddenly, a rocky landslide hit the station at midnight and only eight of them successfully managed to run away from the site.

The Rao Trang 3 and 4 hydropower plants in Thua Thien-Hue have been isolated by flooding and landslides since October 12. 

Of the 17 workers reported buried, one was found dead on October 14. The other 16 are still listed as missing. About 40 workers there have been safely moved to the Rao Trang 4 plant, which was reached on the evening of October 13 by a team from the provincial police./.