Upon receiving the information, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc immediately sent a dispatch to the National Committee for National Disaster Response and Search and Rescue, the defense minister, the commanding general of Military Region 5, and the provincial People’s Committee of Quang Nam. The dispatch requires localities, units and forces to jointly carry out  search and rescue (SAR) missions to find the missing in the landslides.

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Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung directs the forces in the SAR mission. Photo: VGP

According to a report by the provincial military command, the landslides caused 45 people to go missing while seven bodies of those dead have been found. At present, there are at least three other landslides blockading the way to the major landslide sites.

Directing forces in the Central region, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung asked localities and units to quickly mobilize available forces, vehicles, and equipment for the SAR mission.

He agreed to establish the Forward Command Post for SAR operations stationed in Bac Tra My district, led by the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee. Consisting of military, police, and traffic forces, and relevant local authorities, the forward command post is divided into two search directions in Tra Leng and Tra Van communes. The post is responsible for identifying SAR locations, picking up family members of the victims and providing them with accommodations in the communes, and more.

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Engineering troops trying to clear the road to the sites of landslides. Photo: qdnd.vn

Under the order of the government’s top official, forces of the Ministry of Public Security are responsible for ensuring security in the two areas and joining the SAR mission. The Ministry of Transport is to coordinate and support other forces with all available and necessary vehicles as quickly as possible. Medical personnel from the Ministry of Health are the standing force at those two landslide sites. Forces from the Ministry of National Defense and Military Region 5 serve as the core in the SAR operations.

After the establishment of the forward command post, forces started to operate on the SAR mission from 2 a.m. of October 29.

Translated by Huu Duong