Vietnamese sailors escape from Somali pirates

Five Vietnamese sailors were among the crewmen of a fishing vessel of Taiwan, China, who escaped from Somali pirates after it was hijacked in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles, the Taiwan External Affairs Department said on November 6.

The Chin Yi Wen with a crew of 28, including nine Chinese, eight Filipinos, six Indonesians and five Vietnamese, was attacked on November 4.

According to a spokesman for Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency, the crew managed to overwhelm the six armed pirates and retake control of their ship.

This is the first time sailors of a fishing vessel hijacked by Somali pirates have freed themselves on their own, he said.

The Somali pirates fell into the sea and three sailors on the Chin Yi Wen were slightly injured, he added.

The ship is heading for Victoria port of the Seychelles.

Largest home-made ship launched

The 104,000-ton crude oil tanker.  (Photo: VNE)

The ship, 245m long, 43m wide and 20m high, was built under a US$56 million contract signed with the PetroVietnam Transportation Joint Stock Corporation (PV Trans) in February 2007.

The company will hand over the ship to PV Trans in March next year when it is completed.

The shipbuilder is also building an 105,000 ton tanker for PV Trans, which is expected to be handed over to PV Trans in 2012 to facilitate crude oil shipping for the nation's first oil refinery Dung Quat.

Train fares to be raised during Tet

The Saigon Railway Station in Ho Chi Minh City will raise train fares by 10 percent to 39 percent from January 8 to February 13 next year during the lunar New Year holiday.

The increased fare rates will be applied for trips that usually attract a large number of passengers during Tet, including the HCMC-Hanoi route before Tet and the Hanoi-HCMC route after Tet, Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy head of the station, told Tuoi Tre.

The peak of travel this year is expected to take place from January 14 to 21 for the HCMC-Hanoi route and from January 4 to 12 for the opposite route. Fares for trips that have a small number of passengers will be cut by 10 percent to 50 percent, Thanh said.

Thanh said the Saigon Railway Station would also add more trains on the HCMC-Hanoi route as well as on the routes between HCMC, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Quy Nhon, Hue, and Quang Ngai to meet higher demand during Tet.

Tickets will be available at www.vetau.com.vn from 8 am on November 15 to December 12 this year. For more information, Thanh said passengers should visit the station’s website at http://gasaigon.com.vn

Floods hit central provinces

Flash floods and heavy rain hitting the central provinces from Quang Binh to Binh Dinh since Friday have resulted in six deaths and one missing person, according to a report from the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control.

In Quang Nam Province alone, four people have been reported dead from a flash flood in Que Loc Commune, Nong Son District on Friday.

The four victims are Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, 41, and her children Vo Nhat Truong, Vo Van Phuc and Pham Van Tanh. They were all said to be on their way home when the flood struck.

Local authorities decided to grant VND1 million (US$47.6) to each victim while various associations in the district have mobilised nearly VND8 million ($381) to help their family.

Floods also claimed the lives of two people in Quang Ngai and Da Nang.

Meanwhile, Thua Thien-Hue Province's Committee Flood and Storm Control, and Rescue and Research reported Nguyen Huu Khang, an eighth-grade student of Nam Dong District, missing. Efforts to search for the victim are being made.

The rainfall measured at the province's Ta Trach River reached between 510 and 621mm.

Trans-provincial drug traffickers arrested

The Hai Phong City police and the drug crime investigation police department on Saturday arrested 2 members of a large-scale drug ring, said Colonel Tran Quang Vinh, head of the anti-drug crime office in Hai Phong City.

Vinh said the ring trafficked drugs from the Moc Chau border gate in the northern province of Son La to Hai Phong where they then distributed to different provinces.

After 2 months following the ring, the police finally arrested Nguyen Van Binh (48) from Hai Phong and Chu Van Duy (28) from Son La when they were driving a black 7-seat car carrying drugs and weapons on National Road 10 in Tien Lang District.

The police seized 18 bags of heroin, 32 pills of methamphetamine, 2 K-59 pistols with bullets, a sword, 2 handheld transceivers and 4 mobile phones.

The police also searched Binh’s house and found an AK-47 rifle.

At present, the police are extending their search to find other ring members.

Ha Long City mudslide damages homes, crops

A mudslide from Hill 368 into a residential area in Bai Chay Ward in the northern province of Quang Ninh's Ha Long City last Saturday damaged homes and plantations as well as blocking traffic.

Poor quality embankment construction connected to a villa construction project owned by Viet My Joint Stock Co was blamed for the mudslide. Local authorities said they would assess the loss and seek compensation from the company.

About 20 workers and equipment were mobilised to clear the mud, with the work expected to be completed today, said the vice chairman of the ward's People's Committee, Nguyen Xuan Truong.

Taxi driver arrested for fleecing Interpol guests

Hanoi police have arrested a taxi driver a week after he overcharged by 40 times two Singaporean delegates to the 80th Interpol General Assembly meeting in Hanoi. He also took away their Iphone.

This driver works for Phu Gia taxi company but police refused to reveal his identity. He was arrested on November 5 while hiding in the southern province of Dak Nong, over 1,000 km away from Hanoi.

Colonel Nguyen Duc Chung, deputy chief of Hanoi police on Monday confirmed the arrest.

The audacious driver has been escorted to Hanoi for questioning

A lawyer told Tuoitrenews the driver could be charged with “cheating to appropriate private property”, a criminal crime.

The victims are Chen Ang Dani (male) and Than Sha Pen (female) who were forced them to pay VND6 million (US$286) for a ride of just 10 kilometers. The normal fee should have been only VND150,000 (US$7.1).

This occurred at 8pm on October 28 when they took a taxi with license plate number BKS 30K-6476, belonging to Phu Gia Group, after having a meal at Ngon restaurant, a popular eatery for foreigners at 18 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hoan Kiem District.

They were driven from Phan Boi Chau Street to Hanoi’s National Conference Center and eventually had to cough up US$200 and SGD100 (roughly VND6 million in total).

The victims said that following heated argument over prices, they negligently left over an Iphone 4 that has vanished into thin air.

The 80th Interpol General Assembly was kicked off in Hanoi from October 31 and concluded on November 3.

After the case was out, chairman of Hanoi Transportation Association Bui Danh Lien said a number of taxi operators have condemned that the driver’s act negatively affected Vietnam’s national image and demanded an inspection into Phu Gia taxi company.

Ordnance explosion kills one

A 38-year-old man was killed in a bomb explosion in Truong Xuan Commune, central Quang Binh Province's Quang Ninh District on Wednesday, according to Truong Xuan People's Committee Chairman Tran Van Anh.

The man had been cutting sandalwood trees when the bomb exploded suddenly.

Railway guard saves baby

Nguyen Thi Nhan, 26, a railroad guard at Binh Tri Thien Railway Management Company, has been awarded for saving a baby from being hit by a train last month.

The Vietnam Railway Corporation on Friday issued a decision to commend and reward Nhan for saving the 2-year-old boy on October 20, which is also the Vietnamese Women’s Day.

Nhan had previously been praised and awarded by her company.

On October 20, after lifting down the barrier to make way for a train that was running into the terminal in the central city of Hue, Nhan saw a baby standing on the track just 55 m from the coming train.

Despite her 6-month pregnancy, Nhan immediately gave signals to the train to slow down and rushed to take the boy away.

It wasn’t until a long after the incident that Nhan could regain her calm, she recalled.

A similar case happened in Phu Yen Province 3 months ago when 23-year-old Tran Thi Xuan, also a railway guard, saved a 20-month-old boy from being hit by a train in Tuy An District on August 1.

The boy, whose name is Nguyen Ngoc Bau, suddenly stepped into the track while a train was approaching him at 60 kph.

Xuan was later awarded a certificate of merit and VND2 million (US$96) for her brave act.

Over 400 counterfeit gas canisters seized

Over 400 fake gas canisters were seized in southern Binh Duong Province from Tan Xuan An Limited Company and Nguyen Van Duc's Gas Store, according to the provincial Market Watch.

Nguyen Thanh Danh, deputy director of the authority, said on Wednesday that the gas canisters had been falsely labelled with brand names such as Petimex, H Gas, Sai Gon Petro, TTV Gas, VT Gas to cheat customers.

The provincial Market Watch detected the gas canisters before sale, finding that all of them had been filled illegally.

Doctors identify cause of aging in woman

27-year-old Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai from Quang Nam Province who has turned into an old woman overnight is actually suffering from chronic autoimmune urticaria, doctors said.

The result of skin biopsy indicates this disease, Dr. Tran Van Long, director of the Hoan My Hospital in Da Nang City, said yesterday.

According to some medical websites, chronic autoimmune urticaria is very rare and may be the first manifestation of lupus which is particularly associated with the presence of auto antibodies.

This test result matched the initial diagnosis by many experts in endocrine, hematology, and ophthalmology, Long said.

But Long said the hospital had also taken Mai to Hue city to take her bone marrow samples to send to the US, the K Institute in Hanoi, and the Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City for further testing.

Mai’s health has improved and her treatment will depend on all of the test results, Long said.

Mai’s problems began when she was 12, with symptoms such as itching, hives, swelling, and weight loss.
Despite treatment, her condition did not improve. Some people advised her to try traditional medicine, and it seemed to work.
Her facial skin showed signs of recovering, but her condition recurred in 2008 and has since been worsening.
Before Mai’s case, Nguyen Thi Phuong, a 26-year-old woman in Ben Tre, had also been reported to age overnight.

Phuong was initially diagnosed with acquired cutis laxa and mastocytosis, said Prof and Dr. Dang Van Phuoc, deputy director of the HCMC Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital.

According to some medical websites, acquired cutis laxa is an uncommon connective tissue disorder, in which the skin becomes inelastic and hangs loosely in folds. Mastocytosis is also a rare skin disease, characterized by mast cell proliferation and accumulation that produces lesions and intense itching.

Phuong was hospitalized on October 14 and is undergoing treatment. After a month of treatment, Phuong’s skin condition has improved and her face has looked slightly younger, Phuoc said.

Foreigners steal $750 from post office

The Tuy Hoa city police in Phu Yen Province are investigating a case in which 2 foreigners stole VND15.7 million (US$750) from a local post office on Saturday.

At 1 pm on Saturday, the foreigners, one of them female, came to the Nguyen Hue Post Office asking to buy a mobile phone card worth VND50,000 (US$2.4).

After paying for the card to Tran Thi Vu Diep, a post office employee, the foreign man handed Diep two VND200,000 bills and one VND100,000 bill and asked her to change them into smaller bills.

After Diep found the changes in a cash box, the man stepped inside the counter to receive the money and counted it and the woman kept asking Diep about miscellaneous things until the man stepped out of the counter.

After they left, Diep checked the cash box and found VND15.7 million was missing.
Diep told the police that the foreign woman’s questions must have distracted her from attending to the cash box.

A similar though milder case occurred in Quy Nhon city in Binh Dinh Province on the morning of the same day. 2 foreigners came to a shop to buy 2 batteries worth VND1,500 each.

One of them gave the shop’s attendant a VND500,000 bill to pay for the goods. When the attendant gave them their changes, they refused to receive the bills and went closer to the cashier inside the counter and demanded other bills.

Suspecting the customers, the attendant stopped them from entering the counter. They then ran away. A number of similar swindles by foreigners have recently occurred in Phu Yen and Binh Dinh, according to the police in these provinces.

Missing girl found dead in forest

Ho thi Ha, a 4-year-old girl in Quang Ngai Province, who had been missing for over one month has been found dead in a forest.

Ha, who was the daughter of Ho Van Hiep from Tra Tho Commune in Tay Tra District, went missing when she went home from preschool by herself in September.

She was thought to be kidnapped or lost in the forest on her way home, said Ho Van Tuan, head of the district police.

Her body was found a few days ago by a local man, Ho Van Thoi, when he was walking in the forest on Doi Chot Mountain and smelling a stinking odor from a cave near a stream, which is about 1 km from the preschool.

The police have conducted an autopsy on her body and concluded that she must have died of hunger and cold.

Ha’s family also said she had a weak constitution.

On the morning of September 5, which was the opening day of the 2011-2012 school year, Ho Van Hiep took his daughter to a preschool and left her there while the teacher had yet to come.

When he came to school to pick her up, Hiep couldn’t find her and her teacher said the girl had not attended class.

Hiep reported to the police who searched for the girl for weeks without any result.

The communal police said Hiep should be blamed for the tragedy because he didn’t wait for the teacher to hand over his daughter.

This is the first time such a case has occurred in the commune, the communal police said.

Passenger opens emergency door, flight delayed

A domestic flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi was delayed for over two hours on Saturday after a passenger opened the emergency exit door as the airplane, operated by national flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines, was ready to take off.

Nguyen Duc Duy, identified as a 22-year-old college student, suddenly flung the emergency door open by pressing the “Open” button next to it when the Airbus A321 was on the runway, according the authority that manages Tan Son Nhat Airport where the flight VN1162 was scheduled to depart at 8:30 pm.

The evacuation slide was shortly inflated and thus the captain demanded an immediate postponement.

Duy explained he had just wanted to open the window to enjoy the view outside, as he was sitting beside the door, and thought the button was meant for it.

He was a first-time flyer, Duy said.

The other passengers were transferred to another flight which took off more than two hours later.

The student is facing fines of up to VND20 million (US$960) as prescribed by local aviation regulations, the authority said.

Thai student seized with 3.1kg meth in HCMC

Preyanooch Phuttharaksa (22), a design student of Thai nationality, was seized last Sunday night at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport for trafficking 3.1 kilos of methamphetamine, according to the drug crime investigation police department.

Previously on the evening of October 29, Preyanooch Phuttharaksa arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on flight numbered QR 688 departing from Doha (Qatar).

When she went through luggage check, custom officers found three suspicious yellow bags containing white solids under crystal form that she had hidden carefully under the second layer of the luggage.

Later, officers carried out a quick drug test and got a positive result for methamphetamine. They have also passed a sample to the Ministry of Public Security for further assessment.

Customs officers have handed her to the drug crime investigation police department to expand the investigation.

Previously on July 18, Tran Ha Tien (20) on a flight from Doha to Ho Chi Minh City was also found with a 4.1 kilo bag of drugs hidden at the luggage bottom. Her sister, Tran Ha Duy, who had just graduated, was also caught carrying another 4.1 kilo of crystal morphine.

Many female students have been found cooperating with drug barons to transport drugs across countries.

“The future of these young women who got involved in transnational smuggle has been closed because they may face the highest penalty for illegal drug trade,” said a representative customs officer.

Wife torching journalist faces death sentence

Tran Thuy Lieu, 40, who burned her husband/journalist Le Hoang Hung to death in January will be tried soon and may face the heaviest sentence, Judge Le Quang Hung, of the Long An Province People’s Court, said.

The court has received from the local People’s Procuracy an indictment for Lieu, in which she is charged with murder, the judge said.

According to the indictment, this case is especially serious and the defendant is likely to be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, he added.

If everything goes as planned, the trial will be held in December in the Dai Duong residential area, ward 6, Tan An town where the case occurred.

Lieu will be tried alone as police have concluded that she committed the crime without assistance, rejecting the rumors that someone else may have aided her in the evil deed.

The public suspect that her extramarital lover, Nguyen Van Tam – former head of market management team who was dismissed and expelled from the Party recently – had helped her in the murder.

Lieu on February 20 pleaded guilty to burning Hung with petrol and said she acted alone. She said she killed Hung to revenge for his often beating her for her gambling in Cambodia leading to debts.

After prolonged investigations, police filed murder charges against Lieu on July 20 but the victim’s mother demanded a fresh probe, as her lawyer Nguyen Van Duc said many issues remained unclear.

On January 19, while he was asleep in his bed on the second floor in Long An, Hung was doused in petrol and set on fire.

He died in hospital 10 days later. He was 51 years old.

During the time he was conscious in hospital, he would turn away with tears reportedly fell down his cheeks whenever investigators asked him who he thought was the culprit.

Hung was a journalist of Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper and covered social, underworld gang and anti-corruption cases.

VNN/VOV/VNSVNA//Tuoi Tre