Many vehicles are stranded in landslides on a road linking Bolikhamxay Province in central Laos with Vietnam's central province of Ha Tinh.
Vice head of the Border Guard Station at Cau Treo International Gate, Nguyen Khac Hao, spoke on the phone with Dantri/Dtinews on Sunday evening that they've been informed by Laos authorities about the death of a 25-year-old Vietnamese truck driver in the landslides which occurred on August 3.
"Six other container truck drivers who were stranded in the landslides while on the way to Vietnam, left their vehicles and walked home through forest roads," Hao said. "We found and helped transport them to Cau Treo International Border Gate on the morning of August 6."
The official also said that they had sent a delegation to Laos to co-operate with local authorities in searching for the missing people.
"The weather is still very bad with heavy rains there," he said. "Rescue forces are facing lots of challenges in clearing the road and evacuating a long line of stranded trucks there."
According to a report from local authorities, landslides on National Highway 8 of Laos, an artery connecting central Laos with central Vietnam, on August 3 triggered congestion on many stretches. As both ends of this road were hit by landslides, a number of vehicles with many drivers and passengers were left stranded. The areas were in the midst of the mountains where mobile phone signals were unavailable.
As of August 6, 45 Vietnamese people on 22 vehicles stranded in the area have been rescued by Lao authorities.
All the coaches running from Laos to Vietnam stranded on the Lao side have diverted their path to go to Vietnam through Cha Lo Border Gate in the country’s central province of Quang Binh.
On August 4, the Department of Public Works and Transport of Bolikhamxay Province announced the temporary closure of a section of National Highway 8 that is close to Vietnam’s Cau Treo Border Gate in Ha Tinh Province due to landslides.
