Horror accident in Vietnam
Soon more than two weeks: rescue workers continue to try to rescue dead boy from concrete pipe
The rescuers in Vietnam tried to free the boy from his narrow prison with heavy equipment
©Handout/AFP
A child fell into a concrete pipe at a construction site in Vietnam. The accident happened two weeks ago, the salvage work is ongoing – and there is hardly any end in sight.
Almost two weeks after a boy fell into a 35 meter deep concrete pipe at a construction site in Vietnam, it has still not been possible to recover the ten-year-old’s body. The child was pronounced dead 100 hours after the horrific accident and unsuccessful attempts to pull the pipe out of the ground.
“We don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to pull the pipe up. Work is ongoing, and the deeper the drilling, the more complex the geology faced by the emergency crews,” said Doan Tan Buu, deputy chief executive of Dong province Thap, on Thursday of the German Press Agency.
The ground at depth is extremely hard, he explained. “We sent an 80-tonne crane to the site, ready to hoist the pipe after the construction crews removed the last few feet of soil.” It is unclear whether this will take days or even weeks. Experts from Japan would also help with the work.
Last signs of life ten minutes after the fall
An expert told Vietnamese media that the salvage should not be hasty because there is great frictional resistance at depth – also because the pipe is closed at the bottom. It could break if the workers don’t act carefully – and thus make the salvage much more difficult.
The disaster in south-west Vietnam made headlines around the world at the beginning of the year. It is still unclear exactly where little Nam is in the pipe. It is only about 25 centimeters in diameter. Authorities said no one thought a ten-year-old could be trapped so deep in the tube. According to reports, there were only signs of life from the boy for the first ten minutes after the fall.