Politics & Law
Việt Nam honours Japan’s Sojitz, Sumitomo Corporations
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Rescue workers search the rubble in Pedernales, Ecuador on April 17, 2016 after a 7.8-magnitude quake hit the city the day before. — Photo AFP |
HÀ NỘI Viet Nam News -— President Trần Đại Quang and Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc yesterday extended their condolences to President of Ecuador Rafael Correa over the human and material losses caused by the April 16 earthquake.
The same day, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh also conveyed his sympathy to Ecuador’s FM Guillaume Long.
“We hope Ecuador will overcome this difficult moment, stabilise the situation and continue to prosper”, Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson Lê Hải Bình said yesterday.
Bình also expressed sorrow at consecutive natural disasters during recent days in several countries, including the earthquake in Ecuador, which inflicted not only heavy casualties but also great material and spiritual damage on thousands of people.
The spokesperson cited reports from the Vietnamese Embassy in Chile and Ecuador which said there were no Vietnamese citizens in the affected areas.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on April 16, killing at least 272 people as of April 18, according to international media. More than 2,000 people were injured as structures tumbled during the quake and during aftershocks.
Condolences to Japan
Earlier on Saturday, PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, and Deputy PM and FM Phạm Bình Minh extended condolences to their Japanese counterparts Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida respectively over the great loss of life and property caused by recent earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture and surrounding areas.
Two powerful earthquakes a day apart shook southwestern Japan, killing at least 29 people and injuring 1,500.
On April 14, the southwestern island of Kyushu was hit by a magnitude 6.5 quake that left 10 dead. Early on April 16, a magnitude 7.3 quake shook Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu, killing 19 people. — VNS
