Quang Ninh responsibility, affection

On the evening of April 5, immediately after receiving information that the Bell 505 helicopter with registration number VN-8650 of the Northern Helicopter Company under the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (Army Corps 18) lost contact and was determined to have crashed in the sea bordering Quang Ninh - Hai Phong, Quang Ninh province did not delay, mobilized all forces, immediately deployed all plans, coordinated with functional forces throughout the night to search for the missing victims. In parallel with the search at sea, the province also paid attention to sharing, supporting and taking care of the victims' relatives without delay, with the highest responsibility and affection...

Comrade Bui Van Khang, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention - Search and Rescue and Civil Defense of Quang Ninh province, was present at the scene, together with Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and heads of units of the Army, Border Guard, and Police to direct the search and rescue work on the night of April 5.

Responsible, professional in search and rescue

Not being passive or surprised in any situation, immediately after receiving information about the incident, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee immediately sent Comrade Bui Van Khang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention - Search and Rescue and Civil Defense of Quang Ninh Province, to be present at the scene, coordinating and directing the search and rescue work. At the scene of the incident, Comrade Colonel Khuc Thanh Du, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Commander of the Provincial Military Command, along with heads of units of the Army, Border Guard, Police of the province... were also present, directly commanding the forces to deploy to search for the missing victims.

The motto "3 before, 4 on the spot" in search and rescue and search and rescue plans at sea were applied quickly and flexibly to actual conditions and circumstances. Along with that, the functional forces also received extremely useful assistance from fishermen operating in the waters of Tra Bau Bay, Cat Ba archipelago - the first people to witness the incident and reach the scene. Thanks to that, by 19:18, the bodies of 2 victims and some debris of the crashed plane were found.

The functional forces, in which the core force is the force of Quang Ninh province, along with many modern equipment and means and the extremely useful assistance of fishermen in Gia Luan and Cat Hai sea areas, searched all night long for the victims.

Following the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, on the night of April 5 and early morning of April 6, Quang Ninh authorities continued to mobilize all means, equipment, and human resources to participate in search and rescue work.

According to the scene, the total number of functional forces participating in the search and rescue was more than 200 people and more than 30 vehicles. Of which, the forces of Quang Ninh province played a core role with 17 ships, boats and more than 100 officers and soldiers of various forces.

The search and rescue work was carried out very urgently and responsibly, despite the difficulties of weather conditions, darkness, and complex terrain of the sea and mountains... With high determination and proactiveness, and efforts to synchronously deploy many plans, at 1:00 a.m. on April 6, the rescue team continued to find the body of the third victim, identified as Colonel Chu Quang Minh, the pilot of the plane.

Divers of the Navy's Special Water Force took turns burying themselves in the sea at night with the determination to find the unfortunate victims.

Directly commanding the scene of the plane crash, comrade Bui Van Khang, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention - Search and Rescue and Civil Defense, said: Search and rescue work for aviation accidents, which occurred in a sea area mixed with complex rocky terrain, at night, encountered many difficulties. However, with the highest sense of responsibility, the functional forces overcame all difficulties, made every effort to coordinate, and carried out search and rescue work all night. The highest goal set by Quang Ninh province is to quickly search and rescue all victims of the accident...

Modern equipment and a large number of officers and soldiers from all forces continued to coordinate efforts and responsibility in searching for the victims on the morning of April 6.

By the morning of April 6, when the search and rescue work had not made any further progress, and the risk of the victim's body being trapped in the rocky mountain area with complex terrain could not be ruled out, receiving instructions from provincial leaders, the authorities continued to mobilize additional equipment and human resources to support the search work.

In particular, the Quang Ninh Provincial Media Center sent reporters to coordinate with functional forces to use drones used in press operations to organize a search from above, scanning all mountain tops and water surfaces in a wide area of about 2km around the crash site.

At 9:30 a.m. on April 6, thanks to the efforts, responsibility, close coordination, and diverse search and rescue plans and methods, the search and rescue team found the body of the fourth victim.

Many pieces of the crashed Bell 505 helicopter, registration number VN-8650, were salvaged by authorities on the morning of April 6.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Dan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Provincial Military Command, said: With modern equipment, means and a large, elite workforce of forces, in which the key role is played by the forces of Quang Ninh province, the search and rescue work has achieved positive results in a short time, not allowing difficulties in weather, terrain or biological laws to slow down the time to find the victims...

During the search and rescue operation, the authorities also received extremely useful and responsible assistance from fishermen operating in the border area between Ha Long and Cat Ba with hundreds of people and many boats and equipment...

Search and rescue forces found the body of the fourth victim of the accident at around 9:30 a.m. on April 6. The victim was quickly brought back to shore with his family.

Dedicated and affectionate to reassure those who stay behind

In parallel with the search and rescue activities at sea, on the night of April 5, on behalf of the leaders of Quang Ninh province, comrade Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, along with representatives of the leaders of the Ministry of Military Command, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Department of Tourism, Ha Long City and a number of related agencies and units were also present and on duty all night at Bai Chay Hospital - where the relatives of the victims were being cared for, to visit, encourage, and demonstrate the responsibility, affection, and sharing of the province with the victims' families.

Here, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested relevant parties to prepare all scenarios and plans to carry out the next steps to take care of the victims thoroughly; coordinate, support, and ensure all conditions for the victims' relatives with the highest affection and responsibility...

Comrade Nguyen Thi Hanh, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, on behalf of the provincial leaders, was present to encourage and share the pain with the victims' relatives.

Ms. Ho Thi Thanh Hien and Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong, daughter and son-in-law of the victim Ho Ta Luc, expressed: The accident happened which no one wanted… Immediately after the incident, we were taken by the authorities of Quang Ninh province to Bai Chay Hospital for doctors and nurses to take care of and monitor our health. The leaders of Quang Ninh province were also present, sharing, encouraging, and staying with the family to discuss plans to take care of my family. While confused by the sudden tragic incident in a foreign land, we are very grateful for the attention, care and sharing from all levels and sectors of Quang Ninh province and Ha Long city…

Along with always being present with the victims' relatives, implementing the direction of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, the Standing Committee of the Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee also directed the relevant agencies and units to urgently investigate the cause, develop a plan to overcome the consequences of the accident, promptly visit, encourage and support the families of the victims and implement policies for military victims according to regulations.

On the afternoon of April 6, Quang Ninh province initially supported 20 million VND/victim; Ha Long city also supported 5 million VND/victim; Ha Long city Red Cross Association supported 1 million VND/victim. The functional agencies of the province and city also carefully resolved all legal procedures for the victims; coordinated and agreed on a plan to support the families to bring the victims to Da Nang for funeral arrangements...

Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hanh and representatives of relevant departments, branches, localities and units discussed plans to support the victims' families to take good care of the victims.

At 8:00 a.m. on April 7, after more than 36 hours of continuous efforts and tireless search, all the bodies of the 5 victims in the tragic helicopter accident in the sea of Gia Luan commune, Cat Hai district, Hai Phong, were found. Although the miracle did not appear, thanks to the efforts, responsibility, and kindness of Quang Ninh province in particular and the search and rescue forces in general, along with the enthusiastic, timely, and helpful support of fishermen operating in the waters of Ha Long and Cat Ba, the victims' relatives were somewhat reassured when their loved ones were brought back to their families to take care of the funeral, the pain of losing loved ones will no longer linger at the bottom of the deep sea...

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