Heavy rain and strong waves hampered rescue attempts. VNA/VNS Photo Nguyên Lý

QUẢNG TRỊ Five sailors were rescued from the sea after their boat sank late Thursday off the coast of Quảng Trị province.

Border guards and local authority officials helped the crewmen after their vessel had sunk. The following day two more sailors from a different vessel that got into to difficulties were also rescued.

The five men were aboard cargo ship Thanh Thành Đạt 55 which was swept away from the port due to adverse weather conditions.

The boat then suffered engine problems and radioed for assistance. One boat managed to reach them but could only take six out of the 11 man crew.

After the boat sank five men drifted in the water. Four were eventually found late Thursday night and the fifth the following morning.

The border guards on 7.30 am on Friday also helped rescue two crewmen of Vietship 01 which was stranded about off  Cửa Việt Port. The two crewmen were instructed via mobilephones to wear life jackets and swim to shore.

Due to torrential rains hitting central region in the last few days, three vessels – Vietship TK 12, Thanh Thành Đạt 55 and Vietship 09 reportedly sank in Quảng Trị sea, 18 out of 20 crewmen on the vessels were rescued but two others are still missing.

Two other vessels are still stranded at sea including Hoàng Tuấn 26 with 12 crewmen on board and Vietship 01 with ten crewmen on board.

The two vessels are at dangerous positions, waves of 4.5-5 metres high and heavy rain made it difficult to conduct a rescue, said colonel Lê Văn Phương, commander of Quảng Trị Province Border Guard Command.

According to Quảng Trị Province’s Committee of Natural Disasters Prevention and Control, Search and Rescue, until Friday morning, most areas in the province had average rainfall of 500-700 mm, some areas’ rainfall exceeded 1,000 mm, for examples Hướng Linh 1,172mm, Vĩnh Ôn 1,008 mm.

Torrential rains from October 6 caused flood in local rivers. Nearly 13,800 households with over 46,000 people were affected by floods.

More than 3,700 households with over 13,000 people were evacuated to safer areas, mostly in mountainous districts of Đakrông, Hướng Hoá or those at lower parts like Đông Hà city, districts of Triệu Phong, Gio Linh, Vĩnh Cam, Cam lộ and Quảng Trị Town.

Landslides occurred on roads in Hướng Hoá District, National Highway No9 and western branch of Hồ Chí Minh Road.

According to Central Committee for Natural Disasters Prevention and Control, over 14,000 people in four central provinces –Quảng Trị, Quảng Nam, Thừa Thiên-Huế and Đà Nẵng – were evacuated from flood/landslide –prone areas.

A total of 88 communes in the provinces were hit by floods.

In Quảng Bình Province, 25 hamlets in seven communes across districts of Minh Hoá, Bố Trạch, Quảng Ninh and Lệ Thuỷ were isolated due to flood.

In Quảng Trị province, massive floods were seen in all districts and towns.

In Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, parts of National road 49B were inundated, which disrupted traffic.

In Đà Nẵng City, eight out of 11 communes in Hoà Vang District had hamlets isolated.

The flood water level is lowering in areas.

Up until Friday morning, five people died and eight remained missing. About 772 ha of aquaculture production were damaged and 32,500 poultry died or were swept away.

Rain is expected to continue until Saturday, then reduce on Sunday.

Heavy rain is expected to be back in Quảng Ngãi and Quảng Nam provinces early next week then spread to central and northern parts of Việt Nam’s central region. VNS