VietNamNet Bridge – Returning to the dormitory of HCM City National University under heavy rains, two female students were swept away while crossing a stream. The accident occurred in the afternoon of July 8.

Thu - the lucky girl.

At 5pm, two final-year students of the HCM City University of Economic Law - Dinh Thi Phuong Thao and Tran Thi Hoai Thu - both 22 years old, from Binh Dinh province, returned to the HCM City National University dormitory in Linh Xuan Ward, Thu Duc District, on a motorcycle. The accident occurred at the 0.5m wide road crossing a small stream.

"In the downpour I could not see the road. Our motorbike fell into a manhole. I was swept away by rainwater," Thu said.

Thu drifted for about 20 meters but she luckily held a tree root and was rescued by two young men. Thao and the motorcycle were swept away and went missing.

Tens of people were mobilized to search for the missing girl. It took them two hours to find the girl. The victim was brought to the Thu Duc Hospital but she did not survive.

Thu, who just escaped from death, said she and Thao had just passed the final exams. They ought to have returned home for the summer vacation but they decided to stay in HCM City to seek a job.

After this school year, they will have to move out from the dormitory so in the afternoon of July 8, they rode a motorcycle to find a house for lease. On the way back to the dormitory, it began raining heavily. The accident occurred just 300m from the dormitory.

Before the tragic accident, the two girls were warned of the danger. "It rained heavily so I and my friend stood on the road to give warning to passers-by. After carrying an old woman selling lottery tickets over the road, I returned and saw the two girls. I had just told them to not pass the road when they fell into the manhole,” said Hoang, one of the two men who saved Thu.

The place where the accident occured.

"The water was swirling in the manhole. We could only save one girl. If we were only one minute late, we would have not been able to save anyone,” he added.

Hoang said before saving Thu, he and his friend rescued another man who also fell into the manhole. Hoang and his friend are duck breeders and they lived in a tent on the bank of the stream.

Local residents said in recent months, every time it rained, the road crossing Nhum stream was heavily flooded. Many people were swept down to the manhole but they are young men so they could swim to the shore. They have asked the local authorities to replace the current small culverts by bigger ones.

The road across Nhum stream, where the accident occurred, is 3m wide, under which are three small culverts.

Mai Lan