The event, supported by the American Eye Centre, involves leading doctors from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the Hawaii Ophthalmology Society and the HCM City Eye Hospital.  

VAOS is a bridge connecting doctors in the US and Vietnam.

The symposium aims to improve eye care services in Vietnam through healthcare cooperation. It is also an opportunity for Vietnamese doctors to share experience and receive new technology from the US.

Nguyen Minh Vao in Tan Mai 2 hamlet, Phuoc Tan commune, Long Thanh district had been infected with hand-foot-mouth disease at level 4.

Seven children in the province have died of the disease so far.    

According to Director Nguyen Le Da Ha, her hospital has treated some 210 cases of infection which account for 30 percent of its total patients.

She warned that any children having symptoms of the disease should be brought to hospital immediately.

Jetstar Pacific takes off, leaves boy behind

Jetstar Pacific has apologized to a boy and his family after the airlines' flight took off and left him behind even though he had a return ticket to Ho Chi Minh City.

The apology was made Monday afternoon after the carrier received a complaint from Vu Thi Chau, mother of Nguyen Vu Gia Huy, 13 years old, who was removed from the flight from Da Nang to HCM City on June 3 although he had a return ticket and needed a guardian as required by law.

“Through mass media, Jetstar Pacific would like to send an apology to Nguyen Vu Gia Huy and his family for this unexpected incident,” a Jetstar Pacific representative said.

Jetstar Pacific has ordered all its units to review their operation to prevent such a case from repeating in the future.

At 11:45 a.m on June 3, Vu Thi Loan, Huy’s aunt, was carrying out procedures for boarding the BL593 flight from Da Nang to HCM City, when she was informed by Jetstar Pacific staff said Huy was not in the list of passengers.

The staff explained that Huy was among three passengers who were randomly removed from the list by the carrier because the plane did not have enough seats.

Huy, along with the other two passengers, would be arranged for the next flight that would depart at 7:30 p.m., the staff said.

As required by law, a 13 year-old child must have an adult guardian with him/her on any flight.

Although Huy's parents had authorized aunt Loan to be Huy's guardian during the two flights, Loan was refused by the airlines to take Huy in.

As Loan had to come back to HCM City in time for her business, she could not help but leave Huy at the airport alone to wait for the next flight.

After knowing about the incident, Huy's parents phoned him and ask him to tell the carrier’s staff that they wanted to talk with them over phone.

Huy said he had begged some staff to talk with his parents via his phone, but nobody agreed.

“I repeatedly asked a man named Tuan and another female staff of the carrier to talk with my parents via my phone, but both refused and went away,” Tuan said.

Eventually, Huy’s parents had to ask their relatives in Da Nang to come to the airport to take care of Huy.

However, the carrier claimed it had paid special support services to Huy, as applicable for children who travel alone by air.

When the BL597 flight with Huy on board landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Jetstar Pacific staff directly handed Huy over to his father, Nguyen Thanh Son, who later said, "I wants Jetstar Pacific to settle the incident so that such a case will not re-occur in the future."

290 tourists down with food poisoning in Da Lat

Over 290 tourists to the popular resort town of Da Lat have been struck by food poisoning during the past 6 days (from June 1 to June 6) - with one highway restaurant being the main suspect.

According to data from the local health department, at least 9 of them were in serious condition and had to be hospitalized as inpatients.

The Lam Dong General Hospital received and treated 250 patients. The rest were treated at Hoan My General Hospital and Da Lat Medical Center.

The figure could be higher as the list did not take into account treatments at other private centers.

The victims are all tourists from Ho Chi Minh City and other southern localities to Da Lat, a tourist town and capital city of Lam Dong province.

The Lam Dong provincial Department of Health said the cause could be due to microorganisms.

However, according to the Da Lat Health Center, the food poisoning source could come from the T.C restaurant located on National Highway No 20 in Loc An commune, Bao Lam district of Lam Dong province because most of the patients ate there before arriving at Da Lat.

Another reason incriminating the eatery as the culprit is the fact that most patients developed food poisoning symptoms exactly 25-30 hours after having meals at the restaurant.

Samples have been taken from the restaurant for tests.

Property firm leader detained for extortion

The leader of the UDIC real estate trading floor in Hanoi was arrested for allegedly forcing a customer to pay an extra VND4.4 billion (US$214,000) to buy an apartment.

Local police yesterday arrested Truong Chien Binh, 38, general director of the Hanoi-based UDIC Investment and Real Estate Management Joint Stock Company, for allegedly “abusing position and power to appropriate assets.”

The company, which operates the UDIC real estate trading floor, is a subsidiary of the State-owned Urban Development Infrastructure Corporation (UDIC).

Police searched Binh’s house and office, seizing many documents related to the case.

He allegedly directed his inferiors to extort money from house buyers.

Earlier on June 3, the police detained Nguyen Tran Linh, 34, Binh’s deputy and also the company’s sales director, and Dang Quang Huy, 27, an executive of the UDIC trading floor, when they were receiving the said money from Nguyen Van Loc, a house buyer, from Ha Nam Province.

In late May, Loc wanted to buy from the UDIC trading floor an apartment that was priced at VND135 million ($6,600) per square meter.

Linh and Huy told Loc that he would have to pay them an additional VND52 million ($2,500) per square meter, otherwise, they would not sell the house to him.

With the apartment -- in Cau Giay District – being 86.1 square meters in size, this amounted to nearly VND4.4 billion.

The money Linh and Huy received from Loc and some other items related to the case 

Linh also asked Loc to transfer the extra amount to him before signing the contract.

Loc agreed but reported to the police.

After their arrest, Linh and Huy told the police that Binh ordered them to do so.

The apartment Loc wanted to buy is one of the 12 apartments built in Cau Giay with the capital from UDIC, investigators said.

Following preliminary investigations, the police said Chien, Binh, and Huy had sold 7 of these apartments in this manner and pocketed nearly VND30 billion ($1.46 million).

They are continuing their investigation.

Thanh Hoa Province couple electrocuted in rain

A couple were electrocuted to death on the roof of their house in Nong Cong Town, Thanh Hoa Province, Monday when they tried to adjust a neon billboard during a downpour.

Nguyen Xuan Hai, 39, director of Hai Nam furniture company, climbed on the roof to check the billboard that had been put up a few days earlier, a witness said.

At 5pm that day, neighbors found him and his wife, Nguyen Hong Khanh, 38, dead on the roof and took then to hospital.

After investigating, the police determined they had died of electrocution.

“The billboard was electrified and the current passed though Hai when he touched it,” Le The Tuan, head of the Nong Cong police, said.

“Then it [killed] Hai’s wife when she tried to pull him off.”

Man attacks party with acid and sets it ablaze

Long Khanh police in Dong Nai province arrested a man Sunday after he attacked nine people, including a 1-year-old child, at a party with acid and set them on fire.

On Sunday evening Le Cong Tro, 54, from Long Khan’s Suoi Tre commune, brought 2 cans of acid to Tran Thi Thanh Thanh’s house, in Xuan Thanh ward, where she was hosting a party.

Tro splashed the acid on all eight people, including a child, at the party and set them on fire, causing serious burns on all of them and himself.

All of the victims, including a 70-year-old person and the 1-year-old child, were taken to Long Khanh General Hospital for emergency treatment.

Four of the victims, including Thanh, were later transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and are in critical condition.

Tro told police he attacked the party because he and Thanh had a falling out after they were romantically involved. Thanh said she had introduced him to her relatives and Tro told her he had divorced his wife.

Police are holding Tro at Long Khanh General Hospital. He is being charged with “deliberate assault,” police said.

Police are investigating further.

Baby born with exposed intestines saved

A baby girl born with intestines exposed outside her abdomen was saved after an emergency surgery at Khanh Hoa Province’s General Hospital on Saturday.

Diagnosed with gastroschisis (or paraomphalocele), a congenital defect which exposes a patient’s intestines through the anterior abdominal wall, the baby was admitted from another hospital where she was born two hours earlier.

Cao Viet Dung, deputy head of Khanh Hoa General Hospital, said the baby’s large and small intestines, gall bladder and oviduct were exposed through an opening which was about 4 centimeters long.

After the one-hour operation, the doctors managed to place all of the internal organs back inside her abdomen.

Doctor Dung said one in every 2,000 to 5,000 babies are born with this defect and it is more commonly found in girls than boys.

The baby’s recovery is being closely monitored.

Taxi wheels break off when running

A rare incident happened late today when the rear axle of a taxi came off as the vehicle was running in the street in central Hue city.

Le Anh Tuan, the 37-year-old driver, said he was driving the four-seat car when the whole car body violently shook, and the two rear wheels became suddenly separated from the vehicle upon his slamming on the brake.

The incident had caused one-hour traffic congestion before the cab was towed away from the scene.

Tuoi Tre correspondent reported on the spot that the car, the machinery of which is in very bad condition, is owned by Dong Hien company based in nearby Quang Tri Province.

The driver had just taken a patient from the province to Hue central hospital for emergency aid.

Nine suffer acid burns in splashing incident

The tourists, coming from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, visited Ben Thanh market (HCM City), the Cu Chi Tunnels, and My Tho city (Tien Giang province) where they enjoyed traditional food.

To date, Saigontourist has welcomed over 29,000 foreign tourists from cruise ships.