Authorities in Hà Giang Province are intensively searching for victims of the severe landslide. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on July 13 urged efforts to deal with the consequences of a landslide in the northern mountainous province of Hà Giang which left 11 people aboard a mini bus dead.

In an official dispatch sent to relevant ministries and a number of northern mountainous localities, the leader extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and requested preparedness for rains, floods and landslides in the time ahead.

He asked the People’s Committee of Hà Giang to coordinate with their counterparts of Cao Bằng and Lai Châu provinces, and other localities and agencies to continue handling landslide consequences and seeking the missing (if any), while supporting the families of the deceased.

The committee needs to instruct competent agencies in the province to determine the causes of the landslide, and ensure traffic safety, the PM said.

He asked Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Tuyên Quang, Sơn La, Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Hòa Bình, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên and Lạng Sơn provinces to promptly identify landslide-prone areas to work out evacuation and response plans.

In the dispatch, the leader assigned specific tasks for the ministries of public security, agriculture and rural development, natural resources and environment, transport, construction, industry and trade, and national defence.

Notably, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development was urged to set up working groups that will coordinate with localities in this regard.

Hà Giang’s authorities reported that at around 4am on early July 13, the 15-seater mini bus carrying 16 people was passing through National Highway No. 34 (Km 10+900 in Bắc Mê District’s Yên Định Commune) when it encountered a landslide.

When the passengers got off the vehicle to help push it through the landslide, thousands of cubic metres of land from above rushed down the road, burying the vehicle and its passengers.

The province’s police and military quickly deployed hundreds of personnel to the scene to rescue the victims.

The local Department of Health also deployed mobile medical stations at the scene to treat the buried victims and transport them back to the provincial general hospital.

As of the latest update, Hà Giang provincial authorities have brought 15 victims out of the landslide area. Among them, 11 people have died, and 4 are injured and are receiving emergency treatment at Hà Giang Provincial General Hospital.

The province of Hà Giang is providing financial support of VNĐ5 million (US$196) for each deceased victim and VNĐ3 million ($118) for each injured person. Bắc Mê District is also providing funeral assistance of VNĐ25 million ($983) for each deceased victim and VNĐ5 million ($196) for each injured person. Additionally, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society is offering VNĐ5 million ($196) for each deceased victim and VNĐ2 million ($78) for each injured person.

Excavators are deployed to clear the scene as authorities are still working to rescue the victims. — VNS