VietNamNet Bridge – Mr. Vu Anh Thao, a member of the Party Committee of Thai Binh Province, Director of the Provincial Radio - Television Station has been suspended from work for 15 days to review his responsibility in diffusing information about the storm Bebinca.

Mr. Vu Anh Thao.

The decision was made by Chairman of Thai Binh Province on June 23. During this time, the deputy director – Mr. Vu Van Nghiem – will replace Vu.

When Bebinca, the second storm in Vietnam this year, was forecast to come to the northern provinces from Hai Phong to Thai Binh in the evening of June 23, Thai Binh officials immediately went to coastal areas to guide the storm prevention.

At the same time, the Thai Binh Radio and Television Station released only several bulletins with brief information about the storm.

Even at 17 pm on June 23, only 2-3 hours before the storm landed into the mainland, the station spent nearly one hour to report about the press award of Thai Binh.

In late afternoon of June 23, at the headquarters of the provincial People's Committee, Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Affairs -- Nguyen Van Thang, chaired an emergency meeting on the suspension of Mr. Vu Anh Thao for neglecting storm forecast.

The storm made landfall in Hai Phong and Thai Binh at 7pm on June 23, nine hours earlier than previously forecast. A mother and child in Nghe An were swept away by floodwaters. Thousands of hectares of paddies were flooded.

D.Tam