Fishing couple in Hanoi rescue Hai Duong man whose car was swept away by flood in the middle of the night

A video recording the scene of people and authorities in Quoc Oai district (Hanoi) salvaging a white car submerged in floodwaters posted on September 20 has attracted special attention from the online community.

Behind that is a heartwarming story about the efforts to save people in times of danger by a fishing couple in Ben Voi hamlet, Can Ha village, Can Huu commune, Quoc Oai district, Hanoi.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa (born in 1975, residing in Can Ha village, Can Huu commune) - the fishing village man who saved people in the dead of night shared more about this special situation.

Mr. Hoa and his wife work as fishermen on the Tich River. At around 10:30 p.m. on September 17, as usual, Mr. Hoa and his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tho (born in 1974), rowed their boat out to the river to catch fish. Approaching Dong Yen Bridge, he spotted the taillights of a car shining brightly on the river.

He quickly rowed the boat closer and found two young men struggling to hold on to the back of the car, shouting for help. He and his wife approached and brought the victims to shore, while the car sank deep under the floodwaters.

“The boat was too small, if we put two people on it, it would sink. I told one person to get on, the other person to hold on to the side of the boat and together we got to shore. The distance to shore was about 60m, luckily everyone was safe,” Mr. Hoa recounted.

The fisherman added that after being rescued, the young man was still very panicked. Not caring about the car submerged in floodwaters, they just wanted to return home. Seeing that, Mr. Hoa called a taxi to take the two young men home, and he himself called the People's Committee to report the incident.

Sharing about the act of saving people, Mr. Hoa said it was a special opportunity. “Normally, my wife and I usually go fishing at 8pm. That day, I was tired, so I told my wife to wait until after 10pm before going, but unexpectedly, we were lucky enough to meet someone in distress and save them.

At that time, I didn't think much, nor was I afraid of danger, I just thought about how to bring those two young men to shore safely. One of the two was from Hai Duong, the other was from Hanoi, that day they had something to do and unfortunately both they and their car were swept away by the flood," he shared.

On the day they returned to Can Huu commune to ask the authorities to salvage the car, the two young men wanted to visit Mr. Hoa's house and thank him and his wife. However, his house was deeply flooded and the couple had to take shelter in the commune's shelter, so they could not receive them.

"The two young men still promised to come to my house on the day the water receded," said Mr. Hoa.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Huu Commune, confirmed that the above information was true. At around 0:00 on September 18, he received news that Mr. Hoa and his wife in Ben Voi Hamlet had successfully rescued two young men in distress in a flooded area.

“The two young men went from Dong Yen commune to Can Huu commune. Seeing the sign warning of deep flooded areas, they sent someone out of the car to check. Feeling that they could still go, they drove in. The car drove about 500m more and the wheel floated. They tried to push the car back but couldn’t. In the end, both the person and the car drifted into the deep flooded area.

Because they were not locals, the two young men did not understand the flooding situation here, and Can Huu commune had blocked all the way to the flooded area," Mr. Dung informed.

Knowing about the fishermen’s act of saving people, Mr. Dung reported it to the district’s disaster prevention committee. Their good deed was recognized.

"The commune also made a report proposing to reward Mr. Hoa and his wife for their timely rescue," said Mr. Dung.

Mr. Dung added that on the afternoon of September 20, the authorities had completed the salvage of the car.