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Tag: Vietnam

  • Over 150 dead in Vietnam as typhoon floods capital

    Over 150 dead in Vietnam as typhoon floods capital

    The death toll of Typhoon Yagi has risen to 152 in Vietnam, according to government estimates, as one of the country’s largest rivers reaches its highest level in two decades, flooding the streets of Hanoi.

    By Wednesday, flood waters from the swollen Red River reached a meter high in parts of the capital, forcing some residents to navigate their neighbourhoods by boat.

    Thousands of people have evacuated from low-lying areas of the city, and 10 of Hanoi’s 30 administrative districts are on “flood alert,” state media reported.
    Floods and landslides across northern Vietnam have been the main causes of death from the typhoon, the government said.

    “This is the worst flood I have seen,” Hanoi resident Tran Le Quyen told Reuters news agency. “It was dry yesterday morning. Now the entire street is flooded. We couldn’t sleep last night.”

    Yagi, which was initially classified as a super typhoon—the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane—but later downgraded to a tropical depression, has continued to wreak havoc in Vietnam since making landfall on Saturday.


    It has been described as Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year.

    “My home is now part of the river,” Nguyen Van Hung, who lives in a neighbourhood on the banks of the Red River, told Reuters.

    A devastating flash flood wiped out an entire village in northern Lao Cai province on Tuesday, leaving at least 25 confirmed dead. Rescue efforts are underway, with hundreds of soldiers dispatched to search for those still unaccounted for.

    Meanwhile, authorities are closely monitoring a hydropower plant in Yen Bai province, as a massive influx of water into the dam’s reservoir raises fears of a potential collapse.

    Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, assured the public on Wednesday that the plant remains stable but advised nearby residents to remain indoors as water levels could take up to two days to return to a safer level.

    The flash floods were triggered by Typhoon Yagi, which has wreaked havoc across northern Vietnam for the past four days. On Monday, the storm destroyed a major bridge, sending ten cars and two scooters plunging into the Red River.

    The typhoon has also caused widespread damage to homes, factories, and infrastructure, tearing off roofs and uprooting trees.

  • Vietnamese real estate tycoon given death sentence over $12 billion fraud

    Vietnamese real estate tycoon given death sentence over $12 billion fraud

    A court in Vietnam has sentenced real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death over her involvement in a 304 trillion dong ($12.5 billion) financial fraud case, the largest in the country’s history, state media reported on Thursday.

    Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and violations of banking rules.

    Her trial, which began on March 5, ended earlier than planned and was a dramatic outcome of Vietnam’s campaign against corruption, a pledge made by the leader of the ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, to eradicate.

    “We will keep fighting to see what we can do,” a family member told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, according to CNN reports. Before the verdict, the family member had said Lan would appeal against the sentence.

    Lan had pleaded not guilty to the embezzlement and bribery charges, Nguyen Huy Thiep, one of Lan’s lawyers, told Reuters.

    “Of course she will appeal the verdict,” he added, noting she was sentenced to death for the embezzlement charge and to 20 years each for the other two charges of bribery and violations of banking regulations.

    Truong My Lan, along with her accomplices, was found guilty of embezzling over 304 trillion dong from Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), which she effectively controlled through numerous proxies, despite regulations strictly limiting large shareholdings in lenders, according to investigators.

    Between early 2018 and October 2022, when the state bailed out SCB following a run on its deposits triggered by Lan’s arrest, she allegedly misappropriated substantial sums by orchestrating unlawful loans to shell companies, investigators revealed.

    Currently, the bank is being supported by the central bank and is undergoing a complex restructuring process to determine the legal status of hundreds of assets used as collateral for loans and bonds issued by Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group (VTP), of which Lan was the chairwoman. The total value of the bonds alone amounts to $1.2 billion. Many of these assets include high-end properties and unfinished projects.

    Prior to her downfall, Lan had been a prominent figure in Vietnam’s financial sector, playing a significant role in the previous rescue of SCB over a decade ago, before her involvement in the bank’s subsequent crisis.

    Lan was also found guilty of bribing officials to turn a blind eye, including paying $5.2 million to a senior central bank inspector, Do Thi Nhan, who received a life sentence.

    Vietnam predominantly reserves the death penalty for violent crimes, but it also applies it to economic offenses. According to human rights groups, the country has executed numerous convicts in recent years, primarily through lethal injection.

    In the case mentioned, 84 defendants received varying sentences, including probation for three years to life imprisonment. Among them were Truong My Lan’s husband, Eric Chu, a Hong Kong businessman, who was sentenced to nine years in prison, and her niece, who received a 17-year sentence.

  • Vietnam’s tragic fall was an accident – Coroner

    Vietnam’s tragic fall was an accident – Coroner

    A British person who was very drunk fell from the third floor of a guest house in Vietnam and died. This was revealed at an inquest.

    The coroner heard that Ben Milner, who is 46 years old, was seen stumbling and talking to himself before he fell into a street in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2022.

    Mr Milner, who lived in London but was originally from Dorset, passed away because he had skull fractures.

    The Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin said that the person’s death was an accident.

    She said Mr Milner had a very high amount of alcohol in his blood, which would have made him very drunk.

    The investigation found no proof that anyone else was involved in the fall. However, Milner’s wallet and phone were taken after he died.

    Amanda Milner told the inquest that her brother Ben was a smart young man who cared a lot about eating well and taking care of himself.

    She said he didn’t drink much in social situations in the UK. But his family said he was clumsy when he was drunk.

    The doctor said: “Ben was loved very much and his death has made a lot of people very sad. ”

    “He lived life to the fullest. ” He liked living and he liked going places.

  • Vietnam rebel attacks: 98 put on trial for allegedly killing nine persons

    Vietnam rebel attacks: 98 put on trial for allegedly killing nine persons

    Around 100 people are being tried in Vietnam for taking part in organized shootings at government offices that resulted in deaths.

    Last year, some attacks happened in the Central Highlands and nine people died, including four police officers.

    The events happened in a place where people from different cultural backgrounds live. They say the government treats them unfairly.

    The lawyers say the attackers wanted to start their own country.

    On June 11th, in the Cu Kuin district of Dak Lak province, a group on motorcycles attacked the local political headquarters and police offices using guns and other weapons. This happened about 300km north of Ho Chi Minh City.

    Nine people died, which included four cops, two local leaders, and three regular people.

    During the trial that started on Tuesday and will go on for 10 days, 98 people were accused of terrorism. One person was accused of hiding criminals and another of helping illegal immigration, according to the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.

    In Vietnam, people who commit terrorist acts can be punished with the death penalty. Amnesty International thinks that many people are executed in the country every year.

    Six people who are accused of a crime are not at the trial and there are warrants for their arrest from other countries.

    In Vietnam, people are not allowed to have guns and there are very few cases of gun violence.

    “The situation was very serious. The terrorists were trying to take over the state and create a new state called Dega,” said H’Yim Kdoh, deputy chair of Dak Lak People’s Committee.

    The Dega are a group of Christian people who live in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Some of them want to have more control over their own lives and not be controlled by the government.

    The report says that H’Yim stated that the people being accused admitted to the crimes, but claimed they were pressured to do it.

    The police took away 23 guns and rifles, two grenades, 1,199 bullets, and other dangerous devices after the attacks, which they said were very cruel and not human.

    Minority groups in Vietnam have said for a long time that they are treated unfairly by the Communist Party, which is in control of the country’s government.

  • 2,000-year-old curry recipe decoded by scientists

    2,000-year-old curry recipe decoded by scientists

    A recent study conducted on stone tools unearthed in Vietnam has shed light on the ancient culinary practices in the region.

    Traces of spices discovered on a grinding slab and other stone tools indicate that curry was consumed in this area over 2,000 years ago.

    The sandstone slab, recovered from the Oc Eo archaeological complex in southern Vietnam, was buried at a depth of 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the surface.

    This site, which was once a thriving overseas trading center of the ancient Southeast Asian kingdom called Funan, has provided valuable insights into the historical dietary habits and cultural exchanges of the region.

    “Preparing curry involves not only a diverse range of spices but also the use of grinding tools, considerable time, and human effort,” said study author Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung, a senior research fellow in the department of archaeology and natural history at Australian National University in Canberra.

    “Remarkably, even individuals residing outside of India nearly 2,000 years ago expressed a strong desire to savor the flavors of curry, as evidenced by their diligent preparations,” Hung said.

    The grinding slab was found two meters below the surface.
    The grinding slab was found two meters below the surface.

    Analyzing ancient curry

    The ingredients the researchers identified are similar to those in curries eaten in Vietnam and other places in Southeast Asia today.

    “Nowadays, preparing curry in Vietnam has become much simpler for most families due to the widespread availability of curry powder in supermarkets. However, it is interesting to note that the curry recipe used today has not deviated significantly from the ancient Oc Eo period,” said study coauthor Dr. Khanh Trung Kien Nguyen, an archaeologist at the Center for Archaeology, Southern Institute of Social Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

    According to Nguyen, the research team is enthusiastic about recreating the ancient curry, utilizing the ingredients discovered at the 2,000-year-old site.

    The study further highlights that curry consumption dates back around 4,000 years in India, evident from the presence of turmeric, ginger, eggplant, and mango in cooking pots and dental plaque. However, the recent findings from Oc Eo reveal a rich and captivating history of curry production beyond India’s borders.

    Hung emphasized that this discovery showcases the long and fascinating journey of curry, not confined solely to India but spreading its influence to Southeast Asia as well.

    The ingredients unearthed at Oc Eo, like turmeric, share similarities with Indian curries, while other components, such as coconut milk and galangal, distinctly reflect the culinary preferences of Southeast Asia, making the ancient curry a delightful blend of diverse flavors and cultural influences.

    How curry linked cultures

    According to Hung, the exact individuals responsible for making curry at the site remain uncertain, but they are believed to have been either migrants from India or local inhabitants in Vietnam influenced by South Asian culture. The discovery of the large grinding stone, measuring 76 centimeters (30 inches) in length and 31 centimeters (12 inches) in width, alongside the remains of stilt houses, suggests that these people may have lived in close proximity to or above water.

    Previous DNA analysis of a cemetery in Cambodia, connected to Oc Eo through an ancient canal system, has indicated population movement from South Asia into Southeast Asia during the first to third centuries, providing further evidence of cultural exchange and migration in the region.

    The new study concluded that curry recipes arrived in Southeast Asia with South Asian traders and migrants as contact between the regions increased during the early centuries of the first millennium, and it showed how the global spice trade has linked cultures and economic systems.

    Most surprising, Hung said, was that some of the nutmeg seeds unearthed during the dig still released a unique aroma.

    “Food culture is significant in human history,” Hung added. “When we enjoy delicious food, we often wonder about how its flavors were formed, the origins of the recipes, and when these culinary methods were first practiced.”

    The research published in the journal Science Advances on Friday.

  • Barbie movie banned in Vietnam over South China Sea map

    Barbie movie banned in Vietnam over South China Sea map

    Vietnam has decided to ban the upcoming Barbie film owing to a scene that showcases a map featuring disputed Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

    Vietnam, along with several other countries, contests China’s assertion of almost all of the South China Sea.

    The film, centered around the iconic doll, has already generated considerable buzz on social media and was scheduled for release in cinemas on 21 July.

    The specific scene depicting China’s “offensive image” of the nine-dash line, which is used in Chinese maps to assert territorial claims in the South China Sea, has not been disclosed.

    For years, Beijing has been constructing military bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea and conducting naval patrols to assert its territorial claims in the region.

    In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled against China’s claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing refused to acknowledge the judgment.

    Warner Bros’ Barbie film is not the only production to face a ban in Vietnam for featuring the controversial nine-dash line. In 2019, the DreamWorks animated film Abominable was also pulled for the same reason.

    Similarly, the Sony action movie Uncharted faced a ban from the Vietnamese Department of Cinema, the government body responsible for licensing and censoring foreign films, three years later. Additionally, Netflix removed the Australian spy drama Pine Gap from the Vietnamese market following an official complaint.

    The South China Sea is a contested region, with China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all having competing claims in the area. The disputes over territorial rights have led to tensions in the region and raised concerns among neighboring countries and the international community.

    Cases of over 700 illegal miners pending since January – AG laments
  • 65 smuggling drugs in toothpaste tubes arrested in Vietnam

    65 smuggling drugs in toothpaste tubes arrested in Vietnam

    For importing 50kg of heroin into Vietnam, some of which were disguised in toothpaste tubes, police have detained 65 people.

    It comes after the arrests of four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants last month who were discovered to have the tubes in carry-on luggage following a flight from Paris to Ho Chi Minh City.

    Although they claimed to have been hired to transport 60 kg of toothpaste, they were actually carrying ecstasy, ketamine, and cocaine.

    Image caption: Crack cocaine

    Even though it has some of the strictest drug regulations in the world, Vietnam is a major center for drug trafficking.

    The 327 toothpaste tubes the flight attendants were carrying contained narcotics in around half of them. The women, who are currently out on bond, were reportedly oblivious of their contents, according to investigators.

    Vietnam jails a political activist for six years for participating in anti-state actions

    Police said this week that the 65 suspects had been arrested after they uncovered another six shipments of narcotics being smuggled into Vietnam via the same route.

    It is alleged they were directed by the same smuggling ring that hired the flight attendants.

    The 65 suspects are being investigated for various charges, including buying, selling, transporting and storing narcotics, local media reported.

    Police suspect the same syndicate often uses Vietnamese nationals studying and living in France to bring drugs into the country.

    Once the drugs arrive at Vietnamese airports, domestic delivery services transport them to an accomplice in Dong Nai province bordering Saigon.

    Vietnamese man has a school of wild river fish for a pet

    The drugs are then transported to multiple localities for distribution.

    Authorities say the amount of drugs seized via air routes into the country over the past three months has surpassed the amount of airborne drugs trafficked in the past five years combined.

    Ho Chi Minh City is a particularly attractive transit point for smugglers because of its proximity to neighbouring Cambodia.

    Those convicted in Vietnam of possessing or smuggling more than 600g of heroin or more than 2.5kg of methamphetamine face the death penalty. Production or sale of illegal narcotics above certain quantities is also punishable by death.

  • Vietnamese man has a school of wild river fish for a pet

    A Vietnamese man has become famous in his home province of An Giang for taking care of thousands of wild river fish who visit his house every day for food.

    Muoi Phuc’s house in Long Kien, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, is a popular attraction for both locals and tourists. People routinely stop by to watch the man feed a school of wild fish that visits him daily. When the 52-year-old man started feeding the fish, it was just a handful of pangasius, but over the last two years, their number grew at a steady pace, and now thousands of fish stop by his riverside home every day for a bite to eat. The fish are free to come and go as they please, and others have tried attracting them by throwing food into the river, but for some reason, they only stop at Muoi Phuc’s house.

    The Vietnamese duck farmer’s life changed on Tết (Vietnamese New Lunar Year) of 2020. He remembers the day like it was yesterday. His wife and children were away and he had stopped by the house to prepare some rice to take to his grandparents for Tết. As he prepared the rice, he looked out the window and noticed a few fish coming out to the surface of the river with their mouths open, as if begging for food.

    Muoi Phuc took a handful of duck food pellets he had lying around and threw them to the fish. He then went back to his business without giving the hungry fish a second thought. But the next day, he noticed the fish again, and again he threw them some food. They’ve been visiting him daily ever since, and bring new friends with them every time.

    From the dozen or so pangasius fish that first stopped by Muoi Phuc’s home over two years ago, the school of fish has grown to several thousand – some estimate it to be in the tens of thousands – from different species, like halibut, catfish, snakehead fish, and even the aggressive white pompano.

    No one really knows where the fish came from, there was never any news of a fishery or a fish pond losing its fish, or why they chose Muoi’s home from the thousands of others in the Mekong Delta.

    At first, Muoi Phuc used a few bags of fish food every month, but now, the school of fish has gotten so big that he needs tons of food per month to keep them fed. Sometimes the cost is too much for him, so he throws them spoiled fruit and vegetables donated by local farmers, which the fish seem to like just as much.

    Tourists routinely come to Muoi Phuc’s home to see the giant school of fish for themselves, but sadly, they aren’t the only ones who stop by. Every night, dozens of fishing boats stop by his house and throw their nets in hopes of catching the giant school but so far the fish have been able to avoid them. Still, Muoi and his father often stay up to make sure no one harms the fish.

    “Many people know that there are fish here, so they take advantage of our absence to stalk and cast their nets,” Muoi told Dantri. Every time we see them fish her, my father and I beg them not to do it. I don’t know what else to do.”

    Source: Oddity Central

     

  • Vietnam karaoke bar: At least 14 dead

    In southern Vietnam, close to Ho Chi Minh City, a massive fire at a karaoke complex resulted in at least 14 fatalities and numerous injuries.

    On Tuesday night, a fire broke out on the establishment’s top floor, trapping numerous clients inside of their rooms.

    To escape, four people jumped from the second and third floors, local media said. They were injured but survived.

    Firefighters reached the scene shortly after alarms went off.

    Crews say the blaze took just under an hour to bring under control. Investigators are still determining the cause.

    The An Phu karaoke bar, located in the Binh Duong region just north of the city, occupied a significantly sized building with 29 rooms.

    About a third of the building had been on fire, local officials said.

    It had several decorations and wooden decor, BBC Vietnamese reported.

    This is not the first time a fire has broken out at a karaoke bar in Vietnam. Last month, three firefighters died after trying to extinguish a fire at a karaoke venue in the capital Hanoi.

  • Vietnam kids back at school after 3-month virus break

    Millions of schoolchildren in Vietnam returned to class on Monday after the country reported its 17th straight day of no domestically transmitted coronavirus infections.

    The decision to reopen schools came after the Southeast Asian nation eased social distancing measures at the end of April, with experts pointing to a decisive response involving mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing for its apparent success in containing the disease.

    At a school in western Hanoi, secondary level students calmly lined up to have their temperatures checked before filing into classrooms for the first time in more than three months.

    “I am very happy and excited because it’s boring being at home,” said 11-year-old Pham Anh Kiet.

    “I feel safe when I wear a mask and have my temperature checked, I am not afraid of being infected with the virus,” he added, before grabbing a classmate for a quick catch up.

    Tran Dang Ngoc Anh, 12, said she’d missed her friends and teachers and was happy to be back, despite being a little apprehensive about wearing “stuffy masks in classrooms”.

    There are around 22 million school-age children and university students across Vietnam. After being sent home in late January, some kids returned last week but others, including primary school and kindergarten pupils will have to wait it out a further week.

    Universities have begun opening one by one.

    Vietnam has recorded just 271 virus cases and zero deaths, according to official tallies on Sunday. It has been more than two weeks since the country reported a domestically transmitted infection.

    But far from letting their guard down, authorities are enforcing strict social distancing measures in schools, with pupils ordered to stay 1.5 metres apart at all times. Everyone must wear masks.

    Nguyen Xuan Khang, a headteacher in Hanoi, admitted it would be difficult to keep the little ones in line.

    “When it’s break time, the young ones… they are very active, it will be hard to help them maintain a distance,” he said.

    “But no problem, we have to accept that. All the parents give the kids masks, and we also bought 10,000 masks to give to the children. We have put a lot of hand sanitizer in the toilets.”

    Source: france24.com

  • Essex lorry deaths: Victims’ remains arrive back in Vietnam

    The bodies of 16 Vietnamese people who were found dead in a refrigerated lorry in the UK have arrived back in Vietnam.

    They were among 39 migrants – eight women and 31 males, including two boys aged 15 – found in the lorry in Essex on 23 October.

    The bodies were flown to Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport, and will be taken by ambulance to their family homes.

    Investigations are underway in both the UK and Vietnam – several people have been arrested or charged.

    “We have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. We will organise the funeral as soon as he’s returned,” said Vo Van Binh, the father of one victim, Vo Van Linh.

    Speaking to AFP from Ha Tinh province, he said the family were “very sad, but happy as finally, my son is back”.

    The bodies of the remaining victims will be repatriated in the coming days, though a date has not been publicly confirmed.

    Repatriation of each body will cost each of the victims’ families more than 66.2 million Vietnamese dong ($2,856; £2,204), according to the vice minister of foreign affairs.

    The Vietnamese government had offered loans to relatives, though some have said this will only add to the debts they incurred by helping their late relative make the journey to the UK.

    Several Vietnamese organisations have helped to raise money for the families of the victims. More than $110,000 has now been crowdfunded to help support the families.

    What happened to the victims?

    On 23 October, police found the bodies at the back of a refrigerated lorry in the town of Grays in Essex, eastern England.

    Police initially believed the victims to be Chinese nationals but it was later revealed that all 39 of them were from Vietnam.

    Source: bbc.com