Three kids die, buried under sand

Three kids yesterday afternoon died after sinking into a sand area at a construction site in the southern city of Can Tho.

Nguyen Thanh Huy, Nguyen Hoang Thai, both 9 years old, third graders and 10-year-old Nguyen Van Dat, died after they played near a construction site in Thoi Thuan Ward, Thot Not district.

A barge was pumping sand to the site and when the three walked in and sank.

Workers discovered and feverously dug up the area but it was too late.

Right after that, the barge owner and workers fled.

District authorities have donated VND5 million to each family of the hapless children.

The construction project is owned by Hiep Thanh Shareholding Company trading in rice and fish.

Poor student gives back lost $420

Vo Thi Hang Ni, a poor student at Pham Van Dong University in the central province of Quang Ngai, made her school proud after giving back the US$420 she found while working as a hotel maid.

Ni was cleaning a room at Tan An Hotel where she is working part-time when she found the money. She immediately handed it over to the hotel’s manager.

Tran Thi Tuat, President of Tan An Tourism & Trade Services Co which runs the hotel said the money belonged to Kim Do Heui, a Korean taekwondo coach at the Quang Ngai Sport Centre.

Kim Do Heui said he was touched by Ni’s honesty.

HCMC may not have to cut power

Owning to its efforts in saving power in the past three months, Ho Chi Minh City is unlikely to have to cut electricity in this second quarter, the HCMC Electricity Corporation said.

In the first quarter of the year, the city saved 69 million kWh, Nguyen Van Ly, deputy director of the Corporation, said at yesterday’s meeting held by the city People’s Committee with relevant agencies to discuss measures to save energy.

Ly attributed the result of saving power to the efforts of manufacturers in changing their production schedules and of households in saving their power consumption.

Currently, the city’s daily power use is 1 million kWh less than the daily supply it is allocated by the Electricity Group of Vietnam (EVN), he said.

In this quarter, with more than 50 million kWh per month allocated by EVN, the city may not have to cut down power supply to subscribers, he added.

Speaking at the meeting, city People’s Committee chairman Le Hoang Quan praised the Corporation’s efforts in implementing its electricity saving program in the past three months.

Tra Vinh releases 3.2 mil breeding shrimps to sea

On the 52th anniversary of the Traditional Day of Vietnam Aquaculture Industry (April 1), southern Tra Vinh Province yesterday released over 3.2 million breeding tiger-black shrimps to the sea.

The annual release was conducted by the Agriculture and Rural Development Department at Cung Hau sea mouth, Long Hoa Commune, Chau Thanh District.

The release was carried out for the sake of preservation and development of aquatic resources for Tra Vinh in particular and the Mekong Delta in general.

The released breeding shrimps were contributed by 150 fishery businesses, seafood processors, shrimp farms, breeding shrimp traders, fishing boat owners, aquaculture households, fishing logistics centers, and shrimp feed producers and traders.

Since 2003 to date, Tra Vinh province has released to the sea more than 20.5 million breeding tiger-black shrimps, the highest rate in the Mekong Delta region.

Woman held in VND6 billion transfer mistake

Hanoi police have arrested a woman for "appropriating" VND6 billion (US$287,287) in a curious case where the money was mistakenly transferred to the accused, who then spent it all rather than gave it back.

Nguyen Thi Thuy, 52 is facing charges of illegally holding money belonging to Hanoi-based Vincom which by mistake transferred VND6 billion to Thuy’s daughter’s account in November 2009.

When the company discovered the blunder, it blocked the account which by then had suffered a debit of nearly VND7 billion.

The company many times requested Thuy to return the money but she refused, saying she lost it all on stocks.

Viet assault victim to resume studies in Australia

Vietnamese student Vu Ngoc Minh, who was the unfortunate victim of a high profile assault in Melbourne towards the end of December 2010, has recovered well and plans to resume his study at Melbourne Institute of Business and Technology (MIBT) at the start of second semester.

After leaving hospital, 20-year-old Minh spent some months at a rehabilitation clinic in Melbourne to fully regain his health.

Minh and his parents were well supported by a welfare officer from his host institution during this time.

“I was delighted to hear of the progress Minh has made in his recovery and to know that he is intending to complete his studies at MIBT” said Australian Ambassador HE Mr Allaster Cox.

“I would like to commend Minh’s education institution, MIBT, particularly the College Principal, Mr John Duncan and his staff, for their care and support for Minh and his parents over many weeks”.

Vu Ngoc Minh, of Deakin University last year suffered from brain injuries and in a coma after being taken to the Melbourne Royal Hospital.

Minh and his friend Tung, also a Vietnamese, entered a shop and were reportedly followed.

Tung asked the shop’s security officer for help to no avail.

Tung signaled for Minh to run in two separate ways, but the group was also divided in two to chase after them.

Tung was surrounded by 7-8 boys, with one of them using a knife to attack him but he escaped the stab. After failing to beat him, the group went away.

When Tung caught up with Minh, he saw the latter lying in a pool of blood. After being taken to the ambulance, Minh fell into a coma.

Principal still in position despite scandal angers public

Residents in the southeastern city of Can Tho is outraged as a primary school’s principal cum Communist Party secretary is yet to be fired from her posts after being found having an extramarital affair.

Nguyen Thi Anh Dao, Principal of Ngo Quyen Primary School was accused of having an affair with H., deputy chairman of the school’s Parents’ Association, by the man’s wife.

In her complaint to relevant agencies in southern Can Tho City last September, Le Thi P.M., accused Dao of having an affair with H., for three years.

Dao frequently dated H. and her colleagues repeatedly caught the two making love inside Dao's office, said the complaint.

When the affair was revealed, H. confessed to local authorities and Dao apologized to M., and promised to end her realtionship with the latter’s husband.

On January 10 this year, the Party Committee of Tan An Ward, Ninh Kieu District where the school is located, issued a decision to terminate Dao’s positions.

A week later, the wife was informed of the discipline. And on March 25, Dao was notified herself.

However, the district’s Party Committee on April 1 gave Dao a much milder warning, which allowed her to stay in her posts.

Dao declined to comment. Le Thi Thanh, head of the district’s Education and Training Department referred the case to the ward’s Party Committee and said the ultimate authority rested with the district’s People’s Committee, which had been notified.

Union to select youths for Japan-ASEAN cruise

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union has launched a contest to select 20 young people to join the 38th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program in October-November.

All Vietnamese citizens between 18 and 30 are eligible but are required to have good command of English, knowledge of Vietnam and its people, presentation skills, and health.

The deadline for application is April 27 and candidates can send them to the Union’s international board at 62 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi.

The SSEAYP started in January 1974 by virtue of a Memorandum of Agreement signed by Japan and the five ASEAN countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Brunei Darussalam joined in 1985. Vietnam participated in the program in 1996, while Laos and Myanmar participated in 1998, and Cambodia in 2000.

The aim of SSEAYP is to foster friendship, promote goodwill and strengthen understanding among young people from Japan and ASEAN countries.

The annual event brings together 300 youths from the 10 ASEAN countries and Japan, providing them the unique opportunity to interact on board the ship Fuji Maru and call on different ports during a voyage lasting 53 days.

The 38th SSEAYP is scheduled to be held from 25 October to 16 December this year.

The participants will visit Japan and the Philippines (Manila), Brunei Darussalam (Muara), Indonesia (Jakarta), Malaysia (Port Klang), and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City).

Korean woman allegedly hangs self in HCMC

Korean national Lee Hye Kung, 41, who resides in An Khanh – An Phu new urban center located in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 2, was found dead, being hanged on a rope April 4, local police said.

On that night, her roommate returned to the house after work and found Lee dead with the rope around her neck.

She then promptly cut the rope to save her but it was too late.

According to initial investigation based on a camera, it’s quite possible that Lee committed suicide by hanging herself.

Charges to be filed in highway project accident

Police will seek charges against those responsible for the death of a student who died when her motorbike hit a concrete block belonging to a roadwork project while traveling on National Highway No 51 in Dong Nai province.

Indictments will be sought against individuals or organizations or both for “irresponsibility causing serious consequences”, confirmed police.

On January 17, Vu Thi Dung was carrying her 17-year-old daughter Pham Hoai Diem on a motorbike towards Dong Nai’s Bien Hoa City when the vehicle hit the concrete block mindlessly put in the middle of the highway in Long Thanh district’s An Phuoc commune.

Both were thrown from the vehicle.

Dung was only injured but Diem died on the spot when a car from ran over her from behind.

Local police said two construction officials from Licogi 9 and Licogi 9-2 based in Bien Hoa are to blame.

According to police, the highway was under an expansion project and the project developer hired Licogi 9 to spray asphalt there.

Licogi 9 instead commissioned its subsidiary Licogi 9-2 to carry out the job.

Licogi 9-2 then irresponsibly erected a concrete block at the project site but did not install any warning signs nearby.

According to the traffic monitoring station on highway 51, there have been 42 accidents killing 45 people since the highway started being expanded in September 2009.

Many of the accidents stem from the project implementers not erecting barriers or warning signs as stipulated.

“We will never accept careless project implementers that pay little heed to passers-by's lives”, said Colonel Vo Van Sang, deputy director of the provincial police and deputy head of the local traffic safety committee.

Steel tank installed in Hanoi lake to treat turtle

Authorities have put a steel tank in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake where veterinarians can treat the injured turtle.

According to a source from the agency asked to provide treatment, veterinarians will apply a poultice to the ailing creature which belongs to a species called Rafeteus swinhoei of which only four individuals are thought to be left in the world.

The steel tank measures 5 meters across and is covered with non-toxic paint and its water level can be varied between 20cm to 120cm.

Authorities have decided to pump water into it from the lake and not other sources to save time and effort and to avoid shocking the giant turtle.

However, since the lake is highly polluted, with foreign experts even warning it could threaten the animal’s life, the city Department of Science and Technology has installed an advanced water treatment system at the site.

Authorities earlier installed a 15 m tank to house the turtle during its recuperation period.

The treatment is expected to last around 90 days, including preliminary treatment, taking a sample for testing, diagnosis, and final treatment.

Rats menace Nha Trang vacation city

Nha Trang, the popular central vacation city, is infested by rats. They are everywhere -- train station, hospitals, shops.

The pesky little rodents nibble at everything and even attack people when they feel threatened.

“My house is crawling with rats,” Tam H., a food seller on 23/10 street, complained to Tuoi Tre.

“They are everywhere, inside the house, outside. They are not afraid of anything.”

We looked inside his house and found them scampering on the floor, calmly as if there was no one else around.

“All my goods are in there and they gnaw at whatever they want,” Nam, who owns a grocery store on Cau Be Street, said with a sigh. “I have to throw away lots of stuff.”

Hung, a sales consultant, said: “My wife bought some new clothes one day and put them in a plywood cupboard. That night the rats gnawed their way inside the cupboard and bit all the new clothes, leaving them in tatters.”

He even had to take his wife’s scooter for repair once after the lighting system was damaged by the rodents.

But he did not think getting a cat was a good idea, saying the “cats may very well fall prey to them.”

Tr., a construction worker respectfully refers to them as “sir.”

He has been bitten many times, especially after he killed one which ate his food.

“I sleep beside many other men I work with at the construction site but it was just me who got bitten,” he said.

Residents have tried many methods to combat the menace but none seems to have worked.

To many people, a glue trap costing VND10,000 (US$0.5) is not an economical way since each can only be used once to catch a maximum of two or three rats.

Poisons are a dangerous option since many fear it may harm children and domestic pets.

“When a rat eats the poison, it dies in some hidden corner and its carcass stinks terribly for several days,” one said.

“We would rather live with them than put up with that smell.”

Vietnam starts inspecting diaries from China

Vietnam’s Department of Food Safety and Hygiene Tuesday announced they are thoroughly checking dairies imported from China after nearly half of China’s 1,176 dairy products have been banned after failing to obtain new licenses.

It says that 533 dairy producers have been ordered to halt productions after a government safety audit.

Vietnam will withdraw all milk products from these dairy manufacturers.

Yili milk that is contaminated with melamine was imported into Vietnam in 2008.

By April 5, there have not been any reports of radiation-contaminated foods imported from Japan, said the department.

Two dead, three missing in collision off central VN

3:10am today, two ships collided on the Cu Lao Cham sea area off the central province of Quang Nam, sinking the Binh Minh cargo ship with 11 crewmen on board.

At 4:14am, local forces mobilized the Sar 412 ship to carry out rescue activities.

According to rescue forces, at 3:10am, Phuc Hai 05 was en route from Indonesia to the central city of Da Nang when it and the Binh Minh 28 crashed into each other.

Binh Minh 28 was from en route from Thanh Hoa to An Giang province.

Bad weather with thick fog hampering view is suspected to be the cause of the accident.

Several hours after searching, a rescue boat found two lifebuoys with 6 crewmen from Bình Minh 28.

At 7am, the rescue boat SAR 412 rescued two others drifting near the Phúc Hải 05.

By 9:30, eight crewmen have been rescued and safely brought ashore but due to severe injuries, Le Ngoc Kien and Nguyen The Tuyen have died.

The remaining six are recovering. Three are reported missing.

By 10:30, the three missing - Nguyen Van Gioi, Ha Van Nghia and Ha Van Dong - have not been found.

It is suspected that Phuc Hai 05 had an engine failure.

According to crewman Nguyen Van Dien, 58, of Binh Minh 28, the boat was transporting 1,880 tons of clinkers from Thanh Hoa to An Giang when it was crashed head on by Phuc Hai 05.

Gas blast kills 1, seriously injures 6

A gas container exploded, killing one man and severely injuring six other people on Tuesday at 14:30 at Thanh Binh mechanical factory in northern Lao Cai Province.

Ma Quoc Hoat, a twenty-nine-year-old working at the factory, started an electric welder to weld some machine parts of an excavator next to the gas container while there were about ten of his colleagues were working around.

Hoat then carelessly let the container catch the welding fire and thus blast, blowing up the roof of the factory.

He was killed on the spot whereas the other six workers got gravely injured and are now in critical conditions in the hospital.

The factory has been recently put up, Lao Cai investigators said after an initial probe.

Local police are carrying out further investigations.

Chef stabbed dead at home in HCMC

A Vietnamese well off chef was found dead with several stabs in his body at his house this morning in Tan An Hoi Commune, Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City.

A woman named Chin, who works for the victim, came to his house for work on Tuesday and saw Mai Van De’s body lie in a pool of blood in front of his room. The back door of the house was half open then.

The 39-year-old man had earlier visited Phan Van Khanh at around 9:00 pm on Monday and left for home ten minutes later when he received a phone call, the latter said.

Truck carrying 92 motorbikes burnt down

After a battery and a brake failure, the truck driver lost control, causing the vehicle to turn upside down and burst into flames. The fire burnt down the truck and the 92 motorbikes it was transporting.

The incident occurred early morning on the Lo Xo Pass, at an area in Phuoc Son district of Quang Nam province, bordering Dak Glei district of Kon Tum province.

The truck’s driver was Nguyen Van Su, 48, of Thuong Tin District, Hanoi.

According to initial sources, while the truck was running on the Pass, the driver’s assistant heard some explosions coming from the truck’s battery system. He later found a flame breaking out there.

At the same time, the truck’s brake was out of order. Su then lost control of his vehicle.

The fire burnt down the truck and all the 92 motorbikes.

Man mysteriously killed in HCMC hotel

A man with multiple wounds on his body was found dead in a Ho Chi Minh City-based hotel last Sunday night, just one hour after he along with a strange man rented the room, police said.

The victim was indentified as Dang Duc Dung, 35, hailing from district 5.

Dung and an unknown man rented the hotel room on District 5’s Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, according to police.

One hour later, the strange man was seen leaving the hotel in a hurry, alledgely to handle his urgent business.

Hotel staff found Dung dead near a pool of blood 15 minutes later.

Police are tracking down the suspect.

Another Hanoi building tilts, could collapse

Hundreds of people working and living around the five-storey building located in alley No. 91, Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Dong Da district in Hanoi this afternoon chaotically rushed outside after they were told the building showed signs of a possible collapse.

Just several hundred meters away, a five-storey building located on Hanoi’s Huynh Thuc Khang Street completely collapsed on March 31.

The entire building crumbled towards the alley No. 49, knocking down the balcony of the opposite apartment before badly destroying Dang Khoa laptop shop located on the first floor.

The building has two façades, covering an area of 37 sq.m., but it has shown sign of a collapse ever since a 35-storey building started construction a long time ago.

Recently, the building has been badly weakened.

Tran Duc Hoc - chairman of Dong Da People Committee - has asked the owner to move human and property out of the house as soon as possible in anticipation of mishaps, adding they will ask the city’s Construction Department to consider pulling down the house.

Chief accountant wanted for embezzling company money

Hanoi police yesterday issued a warrant for the chief accountant of a company for misappropriating VND160 million (US$7,700) from the company’s account.

Doan Thi Thao, 24, of central Nam Dinh province, was charged with appropriating company assets by storing, using and circulating counterfeit checks and other fake documents, the police said.

She used counterfeit checks and forged the signature of the bank account holder of Hanoi-based Beecom Vietnam Joint Stock Company, where she was chief accountant, to appropriate the said amount from the company’s account.

The police discovered Thao’s offenses after Nguyen Khac Hop, general director of Beecom Vietnam, reported a loss of money in the company’s bank account at a branch of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development in Tu Liem District.

After investigation, the police discovered Thao had used three counterfeit checks and forged the signature of Hop, the account holder, to withdraw the amount from the company’s account from September 2008 to December 31, 2009.

After appropriating the money, Thao quit her job and fled from her residence.

She reportedly spent the amount on her personal needs, the police said.

Thao was also suspected of colluding with another member of Beecom Vietnam in an attempt to appropriate VND1.85 billion ($88,800) of Beecom Vietnam.

The police are continuing their investigation into the case.

Dump truck causes accident in Da Nang - again

A dump truck has caused one more accident in Da Nang in which a man was seriously injured.

At 7:30 am yesterday the truck raced along South Hai Van road in Hoa Vang District, witnesses said, and crashed into a truck carrying water melon coming in the opposite direction.

Its driver, Nguyen Chi Quyen, had apparently tried to overtake a bus and slammed the brakes after seeing the truck loom ahead. It failed to stop and, instead, spun around before hitting the truck.

Both vehicles were badly damaged and Pham Van Bang, the assistant to the truck driver, was severely injured.

He was rushed to hospital for emergency aid.

So far this year dump trucks have caused four major accidents, killing three people and injuring three others, the city traffic police department said.

On March 24 they began a campaign against dump-truck drivers who violate road rules.

The giant vehicles are a nightmare for other vehicles and people living on many streets through which they travel, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Den, head of the traffic police, said.

Young man found dead naked in bathroom

A young man was found dead in his rented room on Nguyen Thai Binh Street, Ward 12, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City yesterday evening.

Vu Ngoc Toan, 29, of northern Hai Phong City, was found lying on his stomach in the bathroom, with his body naked, his head leaning on a water bucket, and some blood leaking from his back and belly.

There was a white ring on the index finger of his left hand.

Searching his 20 square-meter room, local police found no signs of disorder or that his assets had been ransacked. On his desk, a computer was in stand-by mode.

Pham Van Hai, 22, of Binh Dinh province, one of Toan’s friends, said he and some others came to visit Toan in the morning but the room was locked and they could not contact him via his cell phone.

At 9:30 p.m. in the evening, Hai came to Toan’s room again and had the house’s owner open the door. Inside, they found Toan’s dead body in the bathroom.

According to Hai, Toan, Hai and some other friends went to a massage service establishment for a massage on Nhat Chi Mai Street, Ward 13, Phu Nhuan District, the afternoon before.

After that, the group came to a café where Toan told them he had been involved in a land deal worth VND5 billion (US$240,000), he said.

Toan had lived in the rented room for less than a month before his death, said the Ward 12 police.

Toan was married and his wife, now in Binh Thuan Province, is pregnant.

Local police are investigating the mysterious death.

Salinity intrusion to peak this month in Mekong

Salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta will peak this month and move around 30 to 40 kilometers further inland from estuaries with an average salt content of four grams per liter, said the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.

According to the Southern Region Hydro-Meteorological Center, saltwater intrusion is expected to enter 45 kilometers further into Co Chien and Cua Dai rivers and 60 kilometers into the Ham Luong River.

Tran Thi Xuan Lan from the center said salt levels of the rivers would increase within the next few days given a floodtide which will affect tap water sources in residential areas.

“Agricultural production and aquaculture in Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces suffer most of the effects of saltwater intrusion as the rainy season will not begin until mid May,” Lan said.

Huynh Kim Muoi, deputy director of Ben Tre Province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said the department would inspect coastal areas to provide solutions to cope with the salinity intrusion.

In Tra Vinh Province, around 10,000 out of 60,000 hectares of winter-spring rice crop might be damaged given the lack of fresh water. “Around 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of summer-autumn crop will be affected if saltwater intrusion keeps moving on,” said Le Van Tai, deputy director of Tra Vinh Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.