At 9:46 PM, after a heavy downpour, a section of a hill in Khe Que village, Xuan Ai commune (formerly Vien Son commune, Van Yen district, Yen Bai province) collapsed, burying a wooden house and a concrete house.

Rescuers arriving at the scene found three people from the wooden house – 22-year-old Bui Thi Van Anh and her two children, aged three and one – had been pushed to the edge of the landslide by the earth and debris. The mother and children sustained minor injuries and were taken to Van Yen Regional Medical Center.

The scene of the landslide on the evening of 13/7. Photo: Yen Bai

Suspecting that people were missing in the concrete house, authorities mobilized two excavators and numerous people to search. By 12:20 AM today, the bodies of a 27-year-old woman and a one-year-old child were recovered.

From 6 PM on 12/7 to 5 PM on 13/7, Lao Cai experienced widespread rainfall measuring 40-90 mm, with some areas receiving heavier rainfall: Ta Phoi 120 mm, Ngu Chi Son 119 mm, and San Sa Ho 114 mm. The Lao Cai Department of Agriculture and Environment reported 21 houses affected by slope landslides, 11 houses with roofs blown off, and 5 houses experiencing localized flooding.

Gia Chinh