The collapse of the Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel (Lac Duong district, Lam Dong) occurred on the morning of December 16, 2014, causing the fate of 12 workers to be calculated hour by hour, in the context of cold weather in the deep forest (at night 7 - 8 degrees Celsius) and the water in the tunnel was rising more and more. Therefore, the successful rescue of 12 workers only 84 hours after the accident occurred has excited the people of the whole country, and has been praised by the public and the international press.
The first workers were brought out of the Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel.
Mobilizing all forces to rescue 12 workers
After the Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel collapse, Lam Dong province mobilized rescue forces to the scene to find a way to rescue the 12 trapped workers. Next, Song Da Corporation and Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group also sent the most elite rescue forces to Lac Duong. At that time, the rescue forces, after much effort, drilled and set up an oxygen supply pipeline and pumped porridge inside for the 12 workers. However, they were still unable to reach the trapped workers. Therefore, Lam Dong province requested the National Search and Rescue Committee and the Ministry of National Defense for support.
Rescuers used a pneumatic excavator to dig the ground to rescue 12 workers trapped inside the collapsed Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel.
Upon receiving the order, 31 soldiers of the 25th Engineer Brigade (Military Region 7) brought their vehicles and machinery to Lam Dong, and arrived at the scene at dawn on December 17. After surveying and examining the terrain, in the evening of the same day, the engineering force and the Mine Rescue Center opened the first tunnel on the right side. The tunnel digging speed was only 8 m/day due to the many rocks. Not to mention the difficulty of transporting iron and wood in and moving soil out because the tunnel was narrow.
At that time, Colonel Nguyen Huu Hung, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Engineering Corps, Commander of the rescue forces in the tunnel, estimated that with the speed of digging, it would take 3 days to reach the location of the injured workers. Therefore, on the morning of December 18, the 293rd Engineering Brigade sent 65 more officers and soldiers with specialized machinery and equipment to the scene. At this time, Colonel Hung thought of a plan to open a new tunnel on the left wall in the hope of reaching the victims soon.
Engineers "entered the battle" to open a second tunnel using the "tunnel in sand" method.
With the agreement of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at that time, at 5:00 p.m. (December 18), the engineering force "went into battle" to open a second tunnel using the "tunnel in sand" method that the army applied very effectively in both wartime and peacetime. The goal was to rescue the victims as soon as possible.
Digging sand and soil day and night to create miracles
Staying at the scene, Thanh Nien reporters witnessed the engineering force divided into 3 shifts working day and night, each shift had 8-10 people, initially the progress was 4 hours/shift, then reduced to 3 hours, then 2 hours/shift to speed up the progress. Anyone who was tired was immediately replaced and the second tunnel reached a record speed, digging an average of 1 meter/hour.
Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel door on the day of the tunnel collapse accident
Being present in the tunnel, the reporter witnessed that in addition to using a pneumatic excavator to dig, due to the narrow tunnel, the remaining work such as loading and transporting soil from the alley to the tunnel was all done manually, by the effort and hands of the soldiers...
The "tunnel in sand" method brought about an unexpected success. Less than 24 hours later, the left tunnel was reached and the workers inside were rescued. The rescue of the 12 trapped workers in the tunnel faster than expected. The people who contributed greatly to that feat were none other than the engineering force.
After changing shifts, the engineering force took the opportunity to eat bread to regain strength.
According to Thanh Nien reporters at the scene, after the 12 victims were taken to the emergency shelters and stabilized, the engineering team directly clearing the tunnel stepped out of the tunnel. Sweating profusely, their clothes and hair covered in mud, they hugged each other and jumped up: "Victory, victory."
Lieutenant Nguyen Van Tien, Deputy Commander of Company 3, Battalion 32, Brigade 293 (Army Corps), was the first to approach the victims. He said that because the water in the tunnel was chest high, the first male worker to swim towards the rescue team when the tunnel was cleared. "I was so happy that I cried, but I held back and encouraged my teammates to quickly approach and bring the victims out. At the same time, I reassured the victims to stay calm and that we would take them out," Tien said.
Exhausted worker trapped in hydroelectric tunnel for 84 hours is rescued
Private Hoang Van Thao, the second person to enter the tunnel to rescue people, recalled: "The water in the tunnel was up to their chests, while some of the victims were weak, so we had to help them climb up to the main tunnel door. When they learned they were rescued, some people were so emotional that they fainted."
I still remember, Lieutenant Luu Cong Quyet, Deputy Commander of Company 2, was the one who carried the first victim out of the tunnel door, more than 500 meters away. When the rescue team outside arrived to receive the victim, he also collapsed from exhaustion. After drinking water to regain his strength, Quyet said: "When the tunnel door was opened, many victims had fainted. I quickly carried a man out of the tunnel door, even though the tunnel was flooded, bumpy, and lacked light. After rescuing the victims, the hardships and fatigue seemed to disappear."
At its peak, up to 700 people from many forces participated in the rescue of 12 workers in the Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel collapse.
At the press conference after the rescue, Colonel (now Major General) Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Department of Search and Rescue (Ministry of National Defense) and Deputy Chief of Office of the National Committee for Search and Rescue, emotionally said: "The rescue of 12 victims trapped in the Da Dang hydroelectric tunnel faster than expected is a feat of the military forces to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army."
The successful rescue of 12 workers from the Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel collapse made a glorious miracle for the engineering force.
In a flash, 10 years have passed, now the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army, I would like to express my gratitude to the rescue forces who rescued the victims of the Da Dang - Da Chomo hydropower tunnel collapse (at times up to more than 700 people), and especially the engineering force who wrote the miracle in the successful rescue of 12 workers in the tunnel.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ky-tich-cuu-nguoi-cua-cong-binh-trong-vu-sap-ham-thuy-dien-da-dang-da-chomo-185241221231356395.htm
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