VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi makes a donation to flood victims on October 21 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese people both home and abroad are joining hands to support flood-hit residents in the central region, which has suffered heavy losses of life and property over recent days.
On October 21, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) held an online event bringing together its offices in Hanoi, central Da Nang city, and Ho Chi Minh City to raise donations.
Noting the serious consequences of flooding in provinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue and with another storm forecast to make landfall in the region in the days ahead, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi called upon all staff to join the entire political system’s efforts to share the pain and losses facing compatriots in the central region.
Donations totalling 600 million VND (nearly 26,000 USD) were collected, with the funds to be delivered to central provinces via the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.
The Vietnamese Business Association and the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Australia have also made appeals over the last few days to overseas Vietnamese to assist those in distress in their homeland.
Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Australia Huynh Tan Dat said it raised over 3,000 AUD (over 2,100 USD) in three days, from October 17, from members and other donors.
In the state of Victoria, VSM, a group of Vietnamese students in Melbourne, launched a donation campaign on October 16. Its founder, Nguyen Duc Quyet, said that, in less than a week, it raised nearly 40,000 AUD.
On October 20, the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada also launched a donation campaign, organised online with the participation of Vietnam’s representative agencies and expatriates in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and elsewhere.
As of 7 am on October 21, flooding that began on October 6 had killed 111 people and left 22 missing in the central region. Some 371 ha of rice paddies and 7,126 ha of crops have been submerged, and a large number of cattle and poultry killed or swept away, according to the Standing Office of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control./.
