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Coastal areas to be hit by strong winds
A tropical low-pressure system is forecast to hit the Gulf of Tonkin today, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
The head of the centre's Medium and Long-Term Meteorological Forecasting Division, Nguyen Huu Hai, said that the system would affect coastal provinces from Binh Thuan to Ca Mau as well as northern provinces with gusts of up to 49km per hour and heavy showers.
Southern and Central Highland provinces are expected to be affected by scattered showers.
The tropical low-pressure system is expected to decline in around two days, Hai said.
Ha Noi is expected to undergo showers and temperatures of between 24-30 degrees Celsius.
While no casualties have been reported, heavy rains and strong winds destroyed more than 30 houses in the southern province of Ca Mau on Thursday night.
Flash floods killed a 54-year-old man in Ta Khoa Commune of Bac Yen District in northern mountainous Son La Province on Wednesday, damaged and swept away 10 houses and around 8ha of rice fields, and a number of livestock and poultry.
On the same day, the flood damaged an irrigational dam and destroyed two houses in Yen Chau District.
Yen Chau and Bac Yen district authorities have been offering assistance to households affected by the bad weather, handing out VND6 million (US$300) to each.
Largest Vietnamese martyr cemetery website launched
A website providing information on martyrs buried at the Truong Son National Martyr Cemetery was launched in central Quang Tri Province yesterday, July 18.
The website, http://nghiatrangtruongson.quangtri.gov.vn, was designed by HCM City's Science and Technology Department with funds of around VND1.3 billion (US$63,000) taken from the city's budget.
The website is set to run on geographic information systems technology, expected to assist people in their search for loved ones.
The Truong Son National Martyr Cemetery is the largest one of its kind in Viet Nam with around 10,263 martyrs buried in its precinct, the cemetery itself covering an area of 52 ha in the Gio Linh District.
11 Filipinos arrested for gambling, cheating
The Ho Chi Minh City social crime investigation police have arrested 11 Philippine nationals for gambling, organizing gambling, and swindling. Four of the 11 Philippine nationals arrested along with the exhibits. (Photo: VNN)
They became acquainted with other foreigners in the downtown area, invited them to their rented houses for dinner, lured them into gambling, and cheated victims out of their money.
One of the victims was 19-year-old Canadian Emily Helen Garbe.
She had met Cesar Devilla, 58, and Dinido Macachor, 48, two members of the gang, at a shopping mall in District 1.
They had struck up an acquaintance with Garbe saying they wanted some information about her country since some of their relatives were about to go to Canada.
They had later invited her to their house -- at 27/10/1, Road 17, Hiep Binh Chanh Ward -- where Gemma D. Frend, 44, another member, persuaded Garbe to play blackjack for money.
After playing four games, Garbe got the feeling of being cheated and said she wanted to stop playing.
At that moment, following a tip-off from the public, officers burst into the house and took all of them to the District 1 police office for questioning.
From the testimonies of the three Filipinos, the police later arrested eight more members of the gang from that and another house in the same ward.
The police are continuing their investigation.
Requiems for heroic martyrs and AO victims
Thousands of Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers attended a big requiem in Hanoi on July 19 to commemorate Agent Orange/Dioxin victims.
The event was co-organised by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) and the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) as part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Agent Orange/Dioxin disaster in Vietnam (August 10, 1961 - August 10, 2011).
The requiem aimed to honour people who had rendered great service to the nation during the past struggles for national independence and freedom and to help families of Agent Orange/Dioxin victims overcome their lingering pains.
* Another big requiem was held at Duc Co district’s cemetery in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai on July 18-19 to commemorate heroic Vietnamese martyrs, who had laid down their lives on the battlefields in Laos and Cambodia.
This was part of activities to mark the 64th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27).
The requiem coincided with a ceremony to put an eight-tonne bell in place.
On the occasion, the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) contributed VND50 billion to upgrading the cemetery.
The bank also provided VND215 million for building a community cultural house in Ten hamlet, Ia Bnon commune, also in Duc Co district.
Highway bus hits parked truck; 2 dead, 15 injured
At 4:30 am yesterday morning, July 18, an allegedly speeding bus hit a parked truck on the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong expressway in Long An Province, killing 2 passengers and injuring 15 others.
The accident occurred when the 16-seat bus, which was traveling from Tien Giang Province to HCM City, crashed into the truck that was being parked on the highway in Thanh Duc Commune, Ben Luc District, Long An Province.
The accident killed two bus passengers, Vo Van Nghi, 67 and Pham Thi Giang, 56, on the spot. Both of them were from Tien Giang Province.
Meanwhile, 15 others who were severely injured were taken to a local hospital for emergency treatment.
Some of them were later transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City in critical condition.
The bus’ driver had allegedly run at such a high speed that he lost control over the vehicle, resulting in the crash, according to witnesses.
Police were called to the scene but the bus driver has fled.
Through verification, the police identified the driver to be Vo Tan Si, 36, from Dong Thap province.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident and hunting for Si.
Doctors ignore road traffic victim to death?
Relatives have accused a medical center in Tien Giang province of refusing to deliver first aid and totally ignoring a traffic accident victim, leading to his death on Monday.
57-year old Nguyen Van Hoang was taken to the Cho Gao District Medical Center after he was hit by an incoming motorbike traveling in the opposite direction on the afternoon of July 17.
But doctors there did not examine Hoang for one whole hour although he sustained different injuries on his legs and head, Hoang’s brother Nguyen Van Tam told Tuoi Tre.
“They did not deliver first aid nor create a medical record for him”, Tam cried.
According to Tam, when asked to examine Hoang, one doctor on shift that day replied that “the patient had drunk [wine], so we need to follow [his development]”.
At 6pm, when no doctor came forth to the rescue, Hoang’s relatives called a taxi and took the patient over 10 km to the Tien Giang General Hospital which then transferred him to the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City due to his serious condition.
Hoang died on then morning of July 18.
Post-mortem analysis found that Hoang died of epidural hematoma, a head trauma where blood builds up against the dura mater.
What did the center say?
Nguyen Kim Ngoi, director of the medical center which allegedly ignored Hoang, said on Monday afternoon that he has not heard of such a case.
Ngoi told Tuoi Tre the center has no medical record of Hoang. However, according to a book on the receptionist desk that keeps record of arriving patients, there is a case of “injury due to traffic accident” with no specific name.
The doctor on shift that day - Doctor Nguyen Van Hoang - is not contactable at the moment.
The Tien Giang provincial Department of Health has ordered the center to fully report the matter by Tuesday.
In a similar case just last month, 17-year-old rape victim Duong Thi Thu Huyen died on June 19 after doctors at the Nam Can Hospital in Ca Mau province did a cursory check on her.
Although Huyen was hospitalized in an unconscious state, doctor Nguyen Duy Tu announced she was in no danger though she was actually suffering from a brain trauma.
After Huyen died, her relatives put her in a cart and wheeled her body around the hospital in protest.
A curious incident broke out in which over 30 people besieged doctor Tu’s house and another house belonging to the hospital’s director.
The mob vandalized and looted the two houses, saying they did this to revenge Huyen’s death.
Police have now filed charges against 30 people and said they are not Huyen’s relatives but took advantage of the situation to rob.
Medicine suspended from circulation
The central Province's Department of Health on Monday suspended Phadaczen circulation due to the medicine not meeting content standards.
Phadaczen, shaped like a pupa and produced by the Cuu Long Pharmaceutical JSC, is expected to become out of date by June 12, 2012.
The department director called on local authorities and pharmacies to refrain from distributing the medicine.
Those found in violation of new proceedings will be strictly punished according to the law.
Father arrested for assaulting 9-month-old baby
After four months into hiding, Lam Chi Giang, 33 was detained by police yesterday for causing a serious brain injury to his own 9-month-old baby when he thrashed the baby to the ground four months ago in Ca Mau Province.
Following a tip-off form the public, the province’s Dam Doi District police arrested Giang at a café in Gia Rai District, Bac Lieu Province, Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Truong Ha, deputy head of the district police department, said.
Since July 9, the Ca Mau police had hunted for Giang to prosecute him for deliberately assaulting his baby, Lam Nguyen Quynh.
According to case file, on noon of March 25, when Giang was drinking with his friends at a neighboring house, his wife, Nguyen Hong Yen, came and asked him to return home to help her with some housework.
Giang got home in anger and blamed Yen for causing him to lose face in front of his friends. He then beat her and banged Yen’s head against the floor.
Yen later held her baby in her arms with a view to leaving the house, but Giang snapped the baby from Yen and threw it down to the ground.
The baby was immediately taken to the Ca Mau Pediatrics Hospital for treatment and doctors said Quynh suffered a cranial traumatism with a permanent injury rate of 60 percent.
Bird flu re-emerges in Quang Tri Province
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Animal Health Department has announced the re-emergence of bird flu in the central Quang Tri Province after thousands of poultry were reportedly affected by the flu.
More than 2,200 affected ducks, aged 40-days old, in Hai Lang District's Hai Thien Commune and Gio Linh District's Gio Linh Town were culled.
In northern Phu Tho Province, nearly 1,500 poultry in Ha Hoa District's Chinh Cong Commune died of the flu. Two people who were allegedly affected with symptoms of fever, runny nose and chest pain were taken to the provincial hospital.
Local authorities culled the affected poultry, sprayed chemicals and set up three quarantine booths to minimise the disease's spread.
Milkflower trees get the chop
Southern Tra Vinh Province's Urban Public Works Company cut down 75 milk flower trees and 40 chieu lieu (Terminalia chebula, Retz.) trees in Hung Vuong and Quang Trung streets in Tra Vinh City.
The city's authorities decided to cut down the trees after local residents complained they couldn't bear the strong scent of milk flowers during their blossoming season.
Planted in 1998, the trees were part of a project to make the city greener and cleaner.
Fisherman picks up fish with mouth, choked
A fisherman was taken to hospital for emergency treatment Monday after being choked by a fish that he tried to pick up with his mouth from his net.
A sole was picked out of Ho Khai’s throat, doctors at the Vietnam-Cuba General Hospital in the central province of Quang Binh said.
It is not clear why the 53-year-old -- a resident of the province’s Bo Trach District -- tried something so bizarre.
Three years ago a Quang Binh man had tried to hold an anabas, a fresh-water fish, in his mouth while he continued to fish when it suddenly slipped into his mouth and choked him to death.
Fishermen to receive free training
A project to train 24,600 fishermen by 2015 has been launched in central Khanh Hoa Province.
The men from local fishing vessels are to be trained without fees to gain qualifications as captains, mechanics and skilled crew members.
The project's cost of VND30 billion (US$1.4 million) is being funded from the State budget allocation for training rural labour forces by 2020, in accordance with the Prime Minister's Decision 1956/QD-TTg.
Statistics from the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department show the province has about 10,000 fishing vessels and 41,600 fishermen. Only 10.5 per cent of the fishermen have certificates.
Café girl accuses boss of forced prostitution
A 20-year-old waitress has escaped from a coffee house in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan district which she says is a disguised brothel. She has also accused her boss of forcing her into prostitution.
A man, whose name is not revealed, in Ward 14, District 10 has helped rescue the girl, L. after he reported the case to police.
The man said at 7 pm Saturday, L rushed into his house on Ba Thang Hai Street, asking him to hide her from some people who were forcing her to continue prostitution acts.
He kept the girl in his house and reported the case to local police.
The police have called in about 10 people, including L’s boss, for questioning.
The girl told police that in mid May, her mother took her from their native southern province of Dong Thap to work at the café on Kinh Duong Vuong Street in An Lac Ward in Binh Tan district.
Four days later, the café owner requested her to sell her virginity to a man for VND500,000 (US$24.5), but she refused and told her mother about it.
As her mother asked her “to follow the boss’ instructions”, she eventually agreed and got the money.
The owner later allegedly forced her to make love with many other men for
VND300,000-600,000 each time but she was not paid any money.
She said that in late May, the boss sold her to a gang that managed street girls on Chau Van Liem Street in District 5.
She had since worked as a prostitute/waitress at the café in daytime and as a streetwalker at nights until she was rescued.
The police are investigating.
Soc Trang market ablaze at midnight
A large fire spread through the Ban Co Market on Hoang Dieu Street in Soc Trang Province’s Soc Trang town, burning down 3 houses and other properties at 1am yesterday morning (Monday).
The blaze began at a warehouse owned by Ho Anh Dung and spread to the upper floor of a grocery and cosmetics shop owned by Ms. Dang Thi Thien and Hoa Thanh Bakery.
Some fire trucks were mobilized and put the fire under control at 3am.
The flame also completely burnt down Mr. Dung’s house and dealt a loss of VND300 million.
The police are investigating the cause.
Veteran lends interest free VND5 billion
Nguyen Van Thinh, a veteran from Cat Tien District's Veteran Association, lent a total of VND5 billion (US$244,000) without interest to 5,000 local families in the Central Highland Province of Lam Dong.
Thinh said the money was the result of his family's pig breeding, crocodile farming and cattle feed provisioning profit since 2007.
Diplomatic corps present gifts to disadvantaged children
Diplomats from a number of foreign embassies in Vietnam and representatives from domestic and international organisations on July 18 visited and granted gifts to children at the Thien Phuc Humanitarian Centre in the northern province of Bac Giang.
The activity is in response to International Day of Nelson Mandela (July 18).
In November 2009, the United Nations declared July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day to recognise the contributions of the former South African President, who devoted 67 years of his life to promoting a culture of peace and freedom for his community, his country and the world.
On the occasion, the diplomats and representatives from such organisations as Hong Leong Bank, the Press Club, An ninh Thu do (Capital Security) newspaper and Hanel Vietnam Limited Company handed over six sewing machines, two televisions sets and five electric fans to orphans and disabled children at the centre.
Founded in 2010, the Thien Phuc Humanitarian Centre is home to 35 orphans, disabled and disadvantaged people and sponsors 47 orphans.
The centre is working with the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations to carry out a project on building a centre for orphans and disabled worth about 200 billion VND under international sponsorship in Tan My commune, Bac Giang city.
Dog thief beaten unconscious; bike set on fire
A young man was caught red handed stealing dogs on Monday in Nghe An Province’s Hung Dong commune by locals who beat him into unconsciousness and set his motorbike on fire.
He is among the 6 thieves who rode on motorbikes around the streets of Yen Vinh Hamlet, setting sights on the various dogs there for sale to dog restaurants.
But the neighbors got suspicious and when they started to catch one dog, flocked onto the street to confront them.
Two men had to leave behind their motorbikes to escape but Nguyen Ngoc The, 24, hailing from Vinh City’s Nghi Phu district, was captured and brought to the paddy field to be gang-beaten by locals, the police said.
A citizen informed the police as the thief’s life was at stake.
Police later managed to break up the crowd comprising hundreds of people and took the unconscious The to hospital.
Last week, a dog thief broke into a house in Vinh City’s Nghi Lien commune and when caught, took a child hostage but was arrested later.
On year ago, a man from Huong Dong commune of Vinh City was beaten to death and his motorbike badly burnt after being busted stealing dogs.
Barge crashes into Tan Thuan 1 Bridge
A barge carrying red soil driven by captain Mai Van Thao, 30 crashed into the Tan Thuan 1 Bridge that connects districts 4 and 7 in Ho Chi Minh City. The barge overturned while the bridge was damaged.
It happened at 3pm on Monday when the barge tried to avoid hitting an incoming boat.
Traffic officials say that prior to the accident, captain Thao already had his driving license seized by police.
Police are investigating.
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