Overseas Vietnamese attend peace ceremony in France

About 400 Vietnamese people living in France attended a ceremony to pray for peace at Truc Lam Pagoda, 20km south of Paris on Jan 23.

Photo: Vietnam+

The ceremony was held as a custom of the Vietnamese traditional New Year festival.

Construction of the 600sq.m. Truc Lam Pagoda started in 1976 and was completed in 1990.

The pagoda was established and headed by the late Most Venerable Thich Thien Chau and now by Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Duong.

It is a place of worship for many Buddhist followers and Overseas Vietnamese in France.

Gold shop stays locked as fire consumes 1st floor

At 11am Monday, the first floor of Gold Shop Hoang Tho at 97 Pham Ngu Lao Street, Hai Duong City in northern Vietnam caught fire. The shop was closed and no one was there at the time as it was during the Tet holiday.

The owner was at the time busy visiting relatives and friends, according to Dan Tri newswire.

After seeing smoke coming out of the shop, some neighbors tried to break the tightly-locked door to extinguish the fire from within but the fire managed to consume the whole first floor, turning many properties into ashes.

Initial investigation shows the fire could have been ignited from incense burning on the altar.

It is customary in Vietnam to have an altar and burn incense inside one’s house to honor deceased ancestors. People tend to burn many more incense sticks during Tet.

Meanwhile, another gold shop (together with four other buildings) were burnt down in Phu Tan market in the southernmost province of Ca Mau at midnight on Monday.

Initial damage is put at nearly VND2 billion (US$100,000).

There were no human casualties and the fire was initially identified to have been caused by an electric short circuit.

Nghe An man uses knife to rob gold, nabbed

Vo Viet Xuan (35) from the central province of Nghe An was arrested January 21 afternoon for using a knife to rob a shop.

According to colonel Bui Ngan, head of the district police, on January 21 Xuan arrived at gold shop Huy Hoang Hoan Von in Hoang Mai Town, Quynh Luu District, Nghe An to buy 1/10th of a tael.

While the shop owner Dau Huy Cuong was counting the money, Xuan used a sharp knife to stab repeatedly into Cuong’s chest.

Cuong managed to dodge to one side and was slightly injured.

When Cuong’s wife Duong Mai Hien found out, she screamed, startling the robber who then fled.

After the couple reported the robbery, local police managed to capture Xuan.

Argentina helps search for missing in Viet Nam

Buenos Aires – The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) has helped Viet Nam confirm identification of people missing after wartime battles, said EAAF President Louis Fondebrider.

The cooperative plan was established in October, 2010 following the Vietnamese Government's request for technical assistance on the issue, Argentinean press cited the EAAF president as saying.

Last year, two EAAF experts came to Vietnam to provide training in forensic anthropology and identification of remains in Ha Noi and HCM City.

The group also welcomed two officials from the Vietnam National Institute of Forensic Anthropology to gain experience at its headquarters in Cordoba province last December.

According to Fondebrider, the two sides will cooperate in the search for the remains of missing soldiers and also confirm identification of natural disaster victims.

Maria Mercedes Salado , who came to Vietnam to provide training , said Argentinean experts will return to Viet Nam in the coming months for further specific assistance. The EAAF will invite Vietnamese officials, including those from the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of National Defence, to Argentina for training.

More than one million people were reported missing during the war that ended almost four decades ago.

The EAAF is a non-governmental scientific organisation with experience in forensic anthropology and genetics.

Explosion near HCMC bus station on New Year’s Eve

An explosion took place near a bus station in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City on the lunar New Year’s Eve, reported Nguoi Lao Dong.

There were no casualties as the explosion took place in front of No 442 Dien Bien Phu Street at 7pm in ward 17 – just hours before New Year’s Eve.

According to Nguoi Lao Dong, authorities have identified the explosion as coming from a homemade exploding device complete with a fuse and explosives meant for military uses.

Nguoi Lao Dong reported that the explosion is "pretty big".

Ho Chi Minh City police are cooperating with the city military High Command to investigate the matter.

Motorbike bursts into flames after falling

At 4:30pm Monday, a NOUVO LX motorbike fell and burst into flames after its driver swerved it to avoid hitting another bike on Ha Huy Tap Street, Vinh City in the central province of Nghe An.

After the bike skidded for 3 meters, it burst into flames.

The bike belongs to Nguyen Cao Cuong, 28 years old hailing from Ha Tinh province.

Local police arrived in time to clear traffic.

During the past few months, many similar cases happened in different parts of the country.
Last month a Lead scooter caught fire in Hung Yen Province.

A white Attila Elizabeth scooter caught fire in Lam Son district in northern Thanh Hoa City on December 14.

Also in December, a man was passing through Hanoi’s Chuong Duong Bridge when his bike suddenly erupted into fire and eventually burned down to ash.

Then, an SH motorbike suddenly caught fire in front of the Daewoo Hanoi Hotel at the intersection of Kim Ma and Lieu Giai streets in Ngoc Khanh Ward, Ba Dinh District.

Five buildings burnt down in Ca Mau market fire

Five buildings including one gold shop were burnt down in Phu Tan market in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

The provincial police chief Major General Nguyen Thanh Nam said that at midnight on Monday a big fire occurred at Phu Tan Market in Phu Tan District, Ca Mau Province, burning down five buildings including one gold shop.

According to TTXVN, houses in the vicinity also caught fire and suffered material damage. Initial damage is put at nearly VND2 billion (US$100,000).

There were no human casualties.

The fire was put under control in over an hour.

Initial investigation shows it was caused by an electric short circuit.

Local authorities have donated VND1 million ($50) to each family affected by the fire.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre