Coal mine collapse kills two

An illegal coal mine collapsed in northern Quang Ninh Province yesterday, Aug 21, claiming the lives of two men.

The bodies were recovered this morning but have not yet been identified.
The collapse in Ha Khanh Ward, Ha Long City, followed prolonged rain over the past few days.
Local People's Committee deputy chairman Vu Van Hop said local authorities had closed the mine a few days ago but the men had continued to work there.
Men from nearby Thanh Cong Coal Enterprise mine found the bodies after beginning the search yesterday.
The two victims were said to be employees of Nguyen Tien Sy who, on August 14, had been fined VND12.5 million (nearly US$607) for illegal mining at the same location.
Illegal coal mining has long been a problem in the city, especially in Ha Khanh, Cao Xanh and Ha Tu Wards.

More speed humps sought

HCM City's Transport Department has assigned the city's Urban Traffic Management Unit 2 to install more speed humps on a stretch of road leading vehicles to Cat Lai flyover.

The department also ordered the management to re-draw road lines and make the flyover's surface clean to avoid vehicles slipping while travelling in the flyover.

The moves aim to minimise traffic accidents on the flyover, where crashes have recently been occurring at a higher frequency.

Statistics from the flyover's management board figure that there have been four containers trucks overturned since the flyover was put into operation last August.

The latest case reports that one container truck carrying chemicals overturned on the flyover last Thursday, injuring the truck driver.

According to the Rach Chiec traffic police team of District 9, driving at high speed and carelessness are reasons for the accidents.

Fortunately, all the container trucks were stopped by the hard-steel crash barriers of the flyover preventing them from falling onto two-lane roads below the flyover.

"It's necessary to instruct container truck drivers how to safely drive when travelling over the flyover," said Phan Phung Sanh, vice chairman of the city's Union of Science and Technology Associations.

Warning them with road signs was expected to be a useful way, he said.

Police probe missing Vietnamese wives

Police in Central China's Hunan province said on Saturday they have launched an investigation into missing Vietnamese women - who were bought as wives - in remote villages.

The probe follows media reports that said some husbands of the missing women received phone calls telling them to make ransom payments, or the women would be sold again.

About 100 purchased Vietnamese wives are missing from Hunan's mountainous regions.

Hu Qiulai and Hu Jianhe are from the same remote mountainous village in Shuangfeng county; they lost their wives on the same day.

Two months later, they received phone calls from their wives.

"She sobbed and told me that she was kidnapped and sold to another remote village and needed 20,000 yuan ($3,130) to ransom her back," said Hu Jianhe, who bought the woman for 36,388 yuan in 2008.

The two men reported the case to local police after some hesitation, as the women, who were bought on the Sino-Vietnam border, were not their legal wives.

Hu Gengqing, Hu Jianhe's father, acknowledged that trafficking of women was rampant in his county.

"They were all bought from Yunnan, which borders Vietnam, and the total number (in the county) could be dozens," he said.

There are more males than females in Chinese rural areas, as boys are preferred, so some men in poor regions must resort to buying wives.

Police officers at the public security bureau in Shuangfeng county said the bureau has set up a special team to investigate the reported trafficking and marriage fraud.

The bureau is seeking to ascertain the exact number of missing wives, as many partners may be unwilling to report the cases for fear of being accused of trafficking, they said.

Jail terms increased for timber smugglers

HCM City People's Court last Friday approved an appeal by the city's prosecutors' office to increase the sentence for timber smuggling tycoon Nguyen Van Hoa, 44, former deputy director of Kim Loi Company Limited, to 19 years in jail from the initial 16 years.

The court also increased by three years the 12-year sentence imposed on Mac Van Nguyen, 33, former director of Nam Nguyen Services and Trading Company, on the same charges.

Other plaintiffs, including customs officials and senior management staff of other companies, had their original sentences of 12 to 13 years upheld by the court.

Hoa was caught in 2007 while attempting to smuggle 1,700cu.m of timber worth VND26 billion (US$1.2 million) to China.

Hospital guards assault patient’s relatives

Three people including a woman, who were visiting a patient at the Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai Province yesterday, Aug 21, were assaulted by the hospital security staff, allegedly for smoking a cigarette.

The victims were Nguyen Van Son, his wife Mai Thi Hang, and son Nguyen Van Ho, who were in the hospital to see Ho’s wife, who had just delivered a child.

Hang and Ho were knocked unconscious while Son was injured.

Son told the Bien Hoa City police who arrived on the scene that he was smoking a cigarette when a guard came over and told him to stop smoking. He said he would stop after one more puff, but the guard kicked the cigarette away from his hand before starting to hit him.

Finding his father being assaulted, Ho held the attacker in his arms but other guards rushed to the scene, kicked Ho, and beat him on the head with batons until he fell unconscious.

Hang tried to intervene but she was also knocked senseless.

Witnesses confirmed Son’s story, roundly condemning the guards’ cruelty.

All the three were treated at the hospital.

Drought, low reservoirs hit Da Nang rice crop

Some 1,000ha of paddy fields in central Da Nang City has been affected by prolonged drought, according to the municipal Agriculture and Rural Development Department.

The department's deputy head Huynh Van Thang said its two largest reservoirs, Hoa Trung and Dong Nghe, were only at 1.7m and 4.5m, respectively, and 19 other small and medium-sized reservoirs were in a similar situation.

The department has asked the Government for VND3 billion (US$144,500) and the local People's Committee VND500 million ($24,000) to fight the drought.

3 killed, 1 injured as ambulance falls into gorge

Three people were killed and another was injured when an ambulance carrying them felt into a gorge in Lao Cai Province in the northern mountains yesterday afternoon, Aug 21.

The driver, Nguyen Co Dinh, 21, was among those killed but the identities of the two other victims are not known yet.

One of them was a patient who was being transferred from the A Lu Commune Health Center to the Bat Xat District general hospital. The other was a relative of the patient's.

Thuy, a doctor who had been in the vehicle, was the lone survivor and she sustained injuries.

The district police examined the scene and said the driver could have lost control on the winding road. They are continuing with their investigation.

The ambulance operated by the district Preventive Health Center was severely damaged.

Heavy fines threat for rip-off tour firms

The central province of Khanh Hoa People's Committee has requested authorised bodies to intensify inspections, both regular and random, on travel businesses, and impose heavy fines on those found to be ripping off tourists.

The inspections will immediately focus on service prices in Nha Trang City, a tourism hub.

The owner of Thanh Thuy Hotel on 96B Tran Phu Street had been fined VND3 million ($144) for charging tourists VND700,000 ($34) per night, VND500,000 higher than the highest posted rate.

Train carriage planned to cater for disabled

The Viet Nam Railways Corporation is planning to build a train carriage that is friendly to people with disabilities.

The carriage was expected to go into operation this year with estimated pilot operation cost of VND1.5 billion (US$72,000), announced the corporation director general, Nguyen Huu Bang.

The corporation would also review and make plans to repair facilities at railway stations and offices to ensure convenient access for people with disabilities by 2020.

Vietnamese agencies in South Africa support AO/dioxin victims

The Vietnamese embassy and other representative offices in South Africa have raised US$600 to support Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

At a meeting on August 19, Vietnamese ambassador Nguyen Manh Hung spoke of serious consequences of AO/dioxin which are confronting Vietnamese people.

On the occasion, the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and the Vietnam AO Association called on all Vietnamese at home and abroad as well as international friends to help ease the pain of AO/dioxin victims and support their struggle for justice.

Hanoi supermarket celebrates plastic-free Sunday

A supermarket chain in Hanoi Sunday gave away environment-friendly shopping bags to customers for free to raise awareness of environmental protection.

The Hanoi Trade Corporation, or Hapro, handed out more than 2,000 non-woven shopping bags at its five outlets under a program it called “Hanoi’s nylon-free Sunday.”

Nguyen Trung Thanh, sales manager of The Cuong Co Ltd, one of the bag suppliers for the program, was quoted by newswire VnExpress as saying the products could be washed and reused.

“It takes the ‘green’ bags only six months to biodegrade,” he added.

Hapro CEO Mai Khue Anh said the company had spent VND2 billion (US$100,000) for the program, double the amount it had spent for its “Reduce nylon usage for a better environment” project last year.

In future, when consumers are aware of the need to use environment-friendly bags, Hapro would start selling them at a moderate VND4,000-7,000 (2-3 cents), she said.

Phone users conned out of $0.75 by swindler

Many MobiFone subscribers were yesterday, Aug 21, swindled out of VND15,000 (US$0.75) by someone who asked them to send an SMS message to get phone credit added to their accounts.

The victims received a message that read: “MobiFone would like to inform that you have just been offered VND200,000 ($9.6) under a MobiFone promotional program intended for prepaid subscribers. To get it in your account, please type ‘64’ and send it to 6742.”

Many subscribers who followed the instruction found VND15,000 deducted from their accounts.

They then received a text message that read, “You have voted for Pham Luu Ly …”

A MobiFone spokesperson said the messages were sent by a swindler, as the firm had not launched any promotion program like that.

“After receiving complaints from clients, the firm blocked all messages sent to 6742.

“We are working with competent agencies to track down the swindler.”

Assembly chairman praises top students for hard work

Over 100 students who topped university entrance exams this year were asked yesterday, Aug 21, to keep up their academic work, and become an active factor in building a learning society and a developed knowledge economy.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung made the request during talks with 112 students who earned highest marks at university and college entrance exams.

At the meeting, students discussed their studies and aspirations with Hung. Mai Van Chu, top scorer at the University of Civil Engineering, said he came from a poor family in northern Nam Dinh Province's Thien Truong Commune, and wished to become a civil engineer so that he could have the chance to help many people.

Hung also shared his experiences in studying and working in the financial sector.

"We should have a passion for whatever we do, then we can do it well, and determination leads us to success," said Hung.

He said youth was the most beautiful period of a person's life, and students must take advantage of this time to make efforts and dedicate themselves to a worthy cause. The students were asked to take responsibility for not only their families but also for social communities and the country.

Students must be determined to overcome difficulties and be proud as Vietnamese people to bring prosperity to the country and heighten its prestige in the international arena, said Hung.

He also urged the students to promote the volunteer spirit of youth by doing practical works contributing to the national construction and development progress.

The chairman expressed his belief that students with a good foundation of knowledge would attain many achievements in studying and working and would realise their dreams in the future.

The students thanked the Party and State for their trust in the young generation.

Pham Thi Hong Tham, who received top marks at the entrance exam to Ha Noi Pedagogical University No 2, asked the Party and State to pay more attention to investing in education facilities and raising incomes for people working in the education sector.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre