LAO CAI, (Vietnam): Six people remain missing following a waterway traffic accident on Thac Ba Lake in northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on Saturday (Feb 21) evening, local authorities said.
Ta Quang Cong, chairman of Bao Ai Commune People’s Committee, said the incident occurred at around 6pm, in Thac Ba – a reservoir lake created in the construction of the hydropower plant of the same name and is now also a popular tourist site.
Rescue forces were deployed immediately and continued search operations late into the evening.
By 9.30pm, functional forces were still working urgently at the scene to locate the missing victims.
According to preliminary information, at about 7.15pm a stone-carrying ferry bearing registration number YB-0919H, operated by Nguyen Van Tham, born in 1984, collided with a passenger vessel numbered YB-087H, operated by 31-year-old Trieu Duc Noi, with 22 people on board.
Following the impact, the passenger vessel sank.
Authorities said 17 people have been rescued and are now in stable condition, while six others remain missing.
The missing passengers were identified as Hoang Van Thuan (born 1983), Hoang Thi Tuyet (1966), Trieu Thi Huan (1978), Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy (2012), Hoang Duc Manh (2015) and Hoang Thi Hoa (1970).
Local authorities, police and rescue teams are continuing search efforts overnight as investigations into the cause of the accident are underway. - Vietnam News/ANN
