On the afternoon of 6/8, an 11-year-old boy was playing with three friends near a pre-dug sand pit (approximately 1.5 meters wide, high, and deep) on Luong The Tran Street in Quarter 5. When the boy crawled inside, the rain-soaked sand above suddenly collapsed, burying him.

Seeing their friend buried under more than a meter of sand and unable to escape, the other children cried for help. Le Van Ty Hon, 38, a taxi driver who was waiting for a fare, initially thought the children had encountered a snake.

However, when he opened his car door and approached, a female tourist informed him about the buried boy and asked for assistance. At that time, a young man was already in the pit, using his hands and a shovel to dig, guided by the children.

Mr. Hon jumped into the pit and started digging frantically with a shovel. "We had to work as fast as possible, otherwise the boy would suffocate," Mr. Hon said. Digging deeper, Mr. Hon decided to discard the shovel and use his hands to remove the sand layer by layer to avoid injuring the child.

After more than two minutes of intense effort, Mr. Hon and the male tourist pulled the boy out of the pit. He was conscious. "He was buried in a sitting position with his head down, and the sand didn't get into his nostrils, so he could still breathe," Mr. Hon explained.

Le Van Ty Hon, the man who rescued the boy. Photo: Hac Minh

Mr. Hon, who has high blood pressure, was worried and felt near exhaustion, but he was determined to continue digging. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the boy was safe and able to walk home. "Rescuing him was a natural reaction," he said, adding that anyone would have done the same.

Originally from An Giang, Mr. Hon moved to Con Dao with his family six years ago and works as an electric taxi driver. After a video of the incident was shared on social media, he received many calls from friends and colleagues.

Do Van Hien, head of Quarter 5, confirmed that thanks to everyone's swift action, the boy was rescued safely and did not suffocate. The boy's health is now normal.

Truong Ha