Supporting victims of mini apartment fire in Hanoi and floods in Lao Cai province

Director of the Department of Social Protection To Duc visited Bach Mai Hospital to visit and encourage child patients who were victims of the mini apartment fire in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi.

Visiting and encouraging the families of 7 children being treated at Bach Mai Hospital, Director To Duc deeply sympathized with the pain and loss that the families and children had to go through. Representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs supported each family of the children with 1 million VND, contributing to helping the children and their families overcome the current difficulties.

Previously, in order to promptly support victims affected by the fire, the Department of Social Protection issued urgent dispatch No. 761/BTXH-CSTGXH directing the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Hanoi to urgently coordinate with functional agencies and local authorities to grasp the damage situation and implement measures to overcome the consequences of the above fire; Organize visits, encouragement, and emergency assistance to victims of the fire according to the provisions of Decree No. 20/2021/ND-CP dated March 15, 2021 of the Government regulating social assistance policies for social protection beneficiaries.

According to the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, on September 14, 2023, there were 98 victims affected by the fire, of which 56 died and 42 were injured. Among the 39 patients being treated, there are 10 children and 1 pregnant woman; 14 cases are severe, 25 cases are moderate and mild.

As of September 14, the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has supported a total of VND 825 million (of which, the city budget is VND 665 million; the source for children's mobilization is VND 170 million).

On September 14, a working delegation from the Department of Social Protection (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs), led by Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Toan, Deputy Director of the Department, visited and supported relatives of families whose members were victims of the flash flood in Lien Minh commune, Sa Pa town (Lao Cai province) that occurred from the night of September 12 to the early morning of September 13.

The delegation visited, expressed condolences and supported the families of Mr. Vu A Giap, born in 1986, Mong ethnic group; Mr. Vu A Gia, born in 1991, Mong ethnic group and Mr. Vu A Nguyen, born in 1999, Mong ethnic group, who died and went missing in the recent flood.

In addition, the delegation also supported 1 household with a missing person and 10 poor households in Lien Minh commune with property damage, each household with 1 million VND.

At the families visited, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Toan and members of the working group presented support from the Department of Social Protection to relatives of deceased or missing people. At the same time, they encouraged the families to overcome the loss and soon stabilize their lives.

According to information from the People's Committee of Lien Minh Commune, as of the end of September 14, the whole commune had 5 dead people, 6 injured people; 2 people have not been found, suspected missing. Specifically, of the 5 dead people, 2 were local people whose families had buried them and 3 fish farm workers from other localities had been transferred back to their hometowns by their families.

Regarding housing, the estimated damage is over 1 billion VND. There are 88 salmon and sturgeon farms in the commune; of which 82 farms were affected, including: 57 farms were completely damaged, 25 farms were damaged about 70%. The estimated damage is 250 billion VND.

The floods caused the following national highways: 279, 4D to collapse about 14m in length; Provincial Highway 152B to collapse about 50m in length in Nam Cang village, Lien Minh commune with a landslide volume of about 250m3. 9 roads in Lao Cai city, Sa Pa town and Van Ban district managed by the district and commune were collapsed and damaged...

The total initial economic damage is estimated at over VND260 billion, with Sa Pa town suffering the most damage with about VND250 billion. Up to now, working groups, organizations, individuals and local authorities have supported the families affected in Lien Minh commune with a total amount of VND157.3 million. Lao Cai province is mobilizing many resources to search for victims of the flood and overcome the consequences of the flood.