Long-distance bus management tightened

An almost two-month-long inspection will be carried out on long-distance buses during the New Year and Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays, the Ministry of Public Security has said.

Traffic police and transport inspectors will patrol round the clock along Highway No1 from Ha Noi to HCM City to fine violations involving coaches from December 12 to next February 28.

Previously, many buses were found operating without licences, overcharging passengers, illegally stopping or overloading after year-end holidays.

Fire in 18-story building causes panic

The District 3 fire department dispatched five trucks and firefighters brought the blaze under control in 30 minutes.  (Photo: VNE)
A fire broke out suddenly in a signboard on the top of an unoccupied 18-story building in Ho Chi Minh City’s Vo Van Tan Street Monday evening, causing panic in the neighborhood.

Hung, a local resident, said he had seen flames start from the signboard on the Saigon Mansion serviced apartment block.

Sparks had fallen off it, causing bystanders to flee in panic, he said.

The District 3 fire department dispatched five trucks and firefighters brought the blaze under control in 30 minutes, but the signboard was destroyed.

The building was only recently finished and it has no tenants yet.

Captain Nguyen Van Phuoc, head of the fire department, said the blaze was caused by an electrical short circuit.

The local police are investigating.

Managed by the Saigon Apartments Joint Venture Co., it has 72 units of one to three bedrooms, offices for lease, retail space, and a swimming pool, gym, and restaurant.

Over 2kg of heroin seized in coach

The border guards of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai seized 2.1 kilos of heroin on a coach travelling from Lai Chau Province to Lao Cai yesterday morning, Nov 14.

The bus was carrying eight passengers but no one admitted to being the owner of the heroin.

This is the biggest heroin-trafficking case the local border patrol has seen since early this year.

According to Viet Nam's law, those who move or traffic 100 grammes of heroin can be sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison with the maximum of the death penalty.

Hand, foot and mouth disease kills 147 in Vietnam

With around 2,620 children contracting hand, foot and mouth disease last week, the total number of patients in Vietnam this year tops 87,500, ten times last year’s figure, the Ministry of Health reported.

Last week five more children had died in Soc Trang, Dong Nai, and Binh Thuan Provinces, taking the death toll in 28 provinces and cities to 147, many times higher than last year, it said.

On November 4 Ninh Thuan became the first – and so far, only -- province to announce the disease as an epidemic after it spread to six of the province’s seven towns and districts, where 417 children contracted it, three of them fatally.

 The number of patients was 24 times higher then in the same period last year, authorities reported.

Most of them were aged below three, they said.

The ministry said it would announce a national epidemic if two or more localities did so.

Later this week it plans to hold a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City with representatives of provinces and cities that have reported more than 1,500 cases to strengthen preventive measures.

The event will be chaired by Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.

Several provinces and cities, including HCMC, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Quang Ngai, have reported more than 5,000 cases.

Since there is no vaccine against the disease, preventive measures were very important to contain its spread, the health department said.

It called on people to keep their surroundings hygienic and wash their hands regularly, especially the hands of children and those who take care of or feed them.

Victim’s family forgives heartless comments

The family of 58-year-old Nguyen Huu Giang who died in a traffic accident in Yen Bai city on November 1 has asked the public to forgive a young man who posted cruel comments about Giang’s death.

The man is 20-year-old Dang Manh Linh, who sat behind Doan Dinh Hiep’s motorbike when Hiep hit Giang. Giang was going to a credit agency to borrow money to buy a bike for his daughter who had been walking for miles to work.

Giang’s daughter, 24-year-old Nguyen Lan Anh, said she had heard Linh’s comments on Facebook from her cousin and neighbor.

“Sad news! We are really sorry to inform that the dude we had crashed kicked the bucket last night at 17h07. The guy was born in 1953,” the comments by nick Keo Mut Cho Boi said.

Lan Anh said she didn’t think Hiep had written the comments since Hiep was always present when Giang was hospitalized. Hiep paid for hospital fees and gave her family VND10 million (US$500) to pay for Giang’s funeral.

“Linh is still young,” Lan Anh said. On November 10, Linh and his family also visited Giang’s family to apologize and burn incense for him.

Doan Thi Thuy, Giang’s wife said she accepted Linh’s apology and hoped he wouldn’t repeat such an act and hurt others in the future.

She hoped that the online community would forgive him.

According to Thuy, her family is one of the poorest in Nguyen Thai hoc District, Yen Bai city. As her husband passed away, all burdens are now on her shoulder. Besides Lan Anh, she has a disabled 29-year old son.

Women rescued from border brothels

Two Vietnamese women were rescued from sexual slavery last weekend after the police raided Chinese brothels close to the border with the northern mountainous Lang Son Province.

The two, 19 and 28, who were reported missing a year ago, were reunited with their families in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, according to the provincial police.

200,000 tulip baskets to be displayed at Da Lat festival

Around 200,000 baskets of tulip flower will be displayed on the shores of Xuan Huong Lake during the Da Lat Flower Festival 2012.

According to Nguyen Vu Hoang, Chief Director of the Da Lat Flower Festival 2012, the tulip flower baskets will be on show from December 30, 2011 until the Lunar New Year festival, which will fall on January 23, 2012.

The Da Lat Flower Festival 2012 will take pace in the central Highlands province of Lam Dong from December 30, 2011 to January 3, 2012 with 27 programmes.

2 injured in gas blast at restaurant

2 people were injured in a gas explosion from an air conditioner at Hoang Ty Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City this morning.

After the blast, two gas tanks and other debris were thrown out to the street in front of the restaurant and nearly hit a motorist.

Some eyewitnesses said they had earlier heard a big explosion and saw a gas tank of an air-conditioner on the third floor falling down to the ground at a high speed.

The floor then caught fire.

22-year-old Le Thi Thu An, a female employee at the restaurant, and 26-year-old Nguyen Dang Tien, the air-conditioner repairman, were injured. They were taken to a nearby hospital for emergency care. Tien has been discharged and An is still being treated.

An employee said Tien came to fix the air conditioners when the accident occurred.

The restaurant staff later used fire extinguishers to put out the blames.

Online journalism course kicks off in Hanoi

A two-week course on online journalism and multimedia on Monday kicked off in Hanoi, aimed at enhancing skills for journalists from Vietnam and Cambodia.

Attended by 15 participants from Vietnam and Cambodia, the course is organized by IJJ, an international organization based in Germany.

Peter Berger, founder of Financial Times Germany and Claus Hesseling, freelance journalist working for TV network ARD are among the trainers.

IJJ or the International Institute for Journalism is under the management of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the world’s top media organization based in Berlin.

The 15 participants are mostly from big online newswires including Tuoi Tre, VietnamNet, Vietnam News, Dat Viet and 3 media houses in Cambodia.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA/Tuoi Tre