The road to Nu Village was opened quickly, the story is just told now.

As soon as they heard the news of flash floods and landslides burying dozens of households in Lang Nu (Phuc Khanh commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai), dozens of transport workers immediately arrived, not afraid of danger, to clear the way for rescue forces to quickly reach the scene.

Danger lurks

Traffic police work overnight to clear the way to Nu Village

“Now that I think about it, I’m scared. I’m a human being, not made of iron or stone. The whole hill with thousands of cubic meters of water-filled soil and rock could collapse at any time. We were clearing the ground at the foot, the risk of collapse was even higher,” excavator operator Nguyen Ba Phuc (born in 1993), Road Joint Stock Company 242 (Lao Cai province) recounted the process of clearing National Highway 70 to Lang Nu. Born and raised in Pho Lu town, Bao Thang district (Lao Cai), after finishing high school, Phuc did his military service. After finishing his military service, he learned to drive an excavator, then joined Road Joint Stock Company 242 for nearly 5 years now. “Working as a road worker in a mountainous province, I’m used to leaving early and returning late. But the task of clearing the road for the authorities to search and rescue in Lang Nu is an unforgettable memory,” he shared.

Director of the Vietnam Road Administration Bui Quang Thai spoke quickly with reporters, affirming that traffic forces are trying every hour and every minute to open the road to the village where 100 people are missing due to a landslide in Lao Cai.

During the recent storm No. 3, Mr. Phuc was assigned an excavator, on duty from Km134 - Km147, National Highway 70. The storm circulation caused prolonged heavy rain, causing landslides on the road from Bac Ngam intersection (Bao Thang district) to the center of Bao Yen district, and flooding at dozens of large and small points. At some points, thousands of cubic meters of rock and soil slid down, completely blocking the road, paralyzing traffic. At noon on September 10, the company's workers received orders to urgently clear the road to the center of Bao Yen district by all means so that the functional forces could reinforce and rescue the people of Lang Nu. "Hearing the news, everyone was shocked and heartbroken. No one told anyone, everyone from leaders to workers and laborers rushed to the route. Everyone urgently raced against time to clear the road as soon as possible. At night, in the middle of the mountain forest, the sky was pitch black, the excavator's lights were only dim in front of us, after scooping up a bucket, the water and soil above slid down again. However, the brothers still persevered, stuck to the machine, stuck to the road, worked day and night, until dawn on September 11, when they had cleared a stretch of road before stopping. To ensure safety, the company had to arrange a worker to keep watch, if anything unusual happened, they would warn us so we could escape together," Phuc recounted.

Excavator driver Nguyen Ba Phuc (born 1993), Road Joint Stock Company 242, on duty on National Highway 70.

Clearing the road and recovering the body

For half a month now, engineer Hoang Van Than (born in 1972) - Minh Duc General Construction Company Limited (in Lao Cai) has not returned home. Due to the rain and floods, the construction site has been temporarily closed, but he and his workers have been clearing roads to help localities in Bao Yen district. During breaks, Than takes advantage of the phone call to report the situation and encourage his family and children. "In 25 years of working on the roads in the Northwest mountains and forests, I have experienced countless rainy seasons. However, I have never witnessed such terrifying moments as the past few days," he shared. He said that before storm No. 3 made landfall, Minh Duc Company was constructing a road to the center of Phuc Khanh commune (Bao Yen district). The project was temporarily closed, but as the commander, he stayed on duty with some of his colleagues. At around 8:00 a.m. on September 10, he received information to increase support for the locality to clear the road from National Highway 70 to Lang Nu so that the authorities could come in for rescue. Immediately, he and his colleagues sent all three excavators on the construction site to the scene. Because the hills were full of water, the risk of landslides was very high. To ensure safety, the workers had to survey first, then ask the locals and the police to stand guard below. The road to Lang Nu was not only landslide-prone, but all four tunnels were blocked, especially Na Khem and Na Phat. Rocks, trees and rocks blocked the flow, water rushed up, and only by clearing the tunnel and letting the water flow down could people and vehicles pass. “The floodwaters were rumbling through the tunnel, the tire excavators arrived but could not stand still to clear the flow. We had to mobilize the crawler excavators again. Notably, when we reached the tunnel at the beginning of Lang Nu, we both cleared it and worked with the soldiers to retrieve the bodies that had been swept away by the flood. After recovering six bodies, our hands were shaking, but we kept encouraging each other to keep trying,” said engineer Than.

The order to the traffic workers was to clear the road to Lang Nu at all costs so that the authorities could quickly reach the scene.

Clear the way to Nu Village at all costs

2am was still in Bao Yen district, but early in the morning of September 12, Mr. Pham Khac Khuong - Deputy Director of Minh Duc General Construction Company Limited (Lao Cai) was present at the IC19 intersection of Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway to check the landslide situation there. Mr. Khuong said that the unit won a contract to maintain over 500km of national and provincial highways in Lao Cai. The recent floods have caused severe damage to the roads that the unit maintains. As soon as the rain stopped, the unit mobilized all forces and vehicles to deploy security, clear away rocks and soil from the positive slope, and block off landslide areas on the negative slope. For seriously damaged areas, they blocked off, closed the road, and organized traffic diversions so that vehicles could have appropriate routes. However, upon hearing the news that Lang Nu had suffered a serious landslide, the company mobilized more than 10 machines and equipment from 2 nearby construction sites, along with local authorities, to open a road to Lang Nu.

Thanks to the determination of the entire political system, the support of businesses and people, by 10:00 p.m. on September 10, the road from the center of Bao Yen district to Lang Nu was cleared. National Highway 70 was also cleared in the early morning of September 11. As soon as it was cleared, military, police and medical forces quickly approached Lang Nu to carry out rescue operations.

Mr. Tran Trong Thong, Chairman of Bao Yen District People's Committee

Mr. Tran Trong Thong, Chairman of Bao Yen District People's Committee, also added: "The residential road from the district center to Lang Nu is only 20km long but has about 20 landslides, many locations are flooded. Traffic is completely paralyzed, there are sections where we have to carry our motorbikes through the mud to get through. At noon on September 10, after arriving at the scene, we directed the local forces to deploy to take the injured to the hospital for emergency treatment and search for the missing. After that, I and a few officers in the delegation turned to contact all the machinery, vehicles and excavator drivers of the construction units in the area and of the people. All are determined to open traffic to Lang Nu at all costs as soon as possible". Mr. Dinh Trung Thanh, Director of Road Management Area I, said that as soon as receiving instructions from the Director of the Vietnam Road Administration Bui Quang Thai, the Area mobilized maximum machinery and human resources on the route. "The area is coordinating with the Lao Cai Department of Transport to open a rapid road, with the goal of getting rescue forces in as soon as possible," said Mr. Huy.

Worker Nguyen Thi Oanh regulates traffic on Highway 70.

Hard work but proud

On the morning of September 12, Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh (born in 1992), a worker at Road Corporation 242, asked her husband to take her children to school, then hurriedly rode her motorbike down to regulate traffic at the landslide at Km 136, National Highway 70. Like Mr. Nguyen Ba Phuc, Ms. Oanh has been working at Company 242 for 5 years now. Her task is to clear the road, clear the ditch, and clean the road from Km 153 - Km 197 on National Highway 40. However, this section only had a small landslide, and was cleared after the rain stopped, so she was sent to National Highway 70 to ensure safety for the convoys coming to provide relief to Lang Nu. Ms. Oanh said that her house is in Phong Hai commune, Bao Thang district. On the evening of September 8, her husband's grandmother fell ill, so she asked her husband to take her place on guard duty during the storm, while she ran to the hospital with her. Her two young sons (in grades 4 and 2) were home alone. Unexpectedly, that night, heavy rain caused the hill next to the house to collapse in front of the house. Scared, the two children cried out and hugged each other and ran out into the street. Later, neighbors took them to a relative's house for temporary shelter. "Being a traffic worker is already hard work, and it's even harder and more dangerous on rainy and stormy days. Luckily, I have the support and encouragement of my family, husband and children. It's tiring and dangerous, but I'm also proud to be the ones who went ahead to pave the way," Oanh confided.

On September 15, after studying and discussing, Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee Trinh Xuan Truong and experts came up with a plan to arrange the Lang Nu resettlement area. Two options for construction locations were proposed. Option 1, the resettlement area is located in the middle of a field with an area of ​​about 3 hectares. However, this area is not safe because it is low, has 2 streams flowing around, and is at risk of flash floods. Option 2 is the resettlement area located in Sim hill, 2km from the old village, with high terrain, safety, and convenient transportation infrastructure, electricity and water. This is the option that was voted 100% by the people. Regarding the implementation progress, Mr. Trinh Xuan Truong said that on September 16, machinery will be mobilized to deploy measurement, planning, statistics on compensation for site clearance, and construction. The province is determined to complete the resettlement area for 40 households who lost their homes before December 31.

Giaothong.vn

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/than-toc-mo-duong-vao-lang-nu-chuyen-bay-gio-moi-ke-192240916170643805.htm