The landslide happened early on the morning of October 18 in the mountainous area of Quang Tri province where Unit 337 under Military Region 4 is stationed.

Right after the landslide, the Military Region 4 Command ordered the local military units to mobilize forces and assets to search for the missing.

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At the site of landslide

According to local officials, the search and rescue forces had to try their best to reach the landslide area in Huong Phung commune, Huong Hoa district, as many road sections leading to the scene were blocked due to landslides. With their great efforts, the first search and rescue group arrived at the site and started the search and rescue mission at 6:30am.

Later, more forces reached the site and joined the search and rescue mission. The search adn rescue efforts met many difficulties as the rain keeps going and risk of landslide in the area remains high.

On the morning of October 18, the Ministry of National Defense held an urgent meeting under the chaired of Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich and with the participation of deputy defense ministers and leaders of the General Staff. The Defense Minister ordered Military Region 4 to immediately draw up a search and rescue plan and send forces and means for the search and rescue mission. He also sent a delegation of the Ministry of National Defense including leaders of the Defense Mministry and General Staff to the landslide site to direct the search and rescue mission.

At this point of time, the search and rescue force is racing against time to search for the remaining missing troops.

Earlier at 6.30pm on October 17, a landslide happened in Huong Hoa district that buried six people of the same family. Two were found but died and the other four are still missing.

According to the Quang Tri authority, wide scale flooding is happening all across Quang Tri province with as many as 82 out of the province’s 124 communes affected.

Translated by Song Anh