A woman and her ten-year-old daughter died while traveling on the Binh Thuy River when a 10m high concrete stake abruptly fell down on to their boat in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on Sunday night.
At about 7:45 pm on Sunday, Mai Dac Thang from Vinh Long Province started his 17-ton vessel carrying his wife and daughter together with 20,000 bricks on the Binh Thuy River in Binh Thuy District when the accident occurred.
Thang’s wife Pham Thi Hanh, 39, and daughter Duong Thi Diem Hang fell into the river and the current swept them away.
At 10pm, Hanh’s body was found with a broken chest while Hang’s body was recovered at 10am yesterday.
Nguyen Tan Duoc, Chairman of the People’s Committee in Binh Thuy District said that the concrete stake was driven into the riverbed since 2005. It was meant for building the Binh Thuy Bridge on the Mau Than-Tra Noc airport route.
However, the route plan was changed and the bridge construction location moved elsewhere.
Although local authorities had asked to remove the stakes many times, the execution units did not take heed.
The Binh Thuy District authorities immediately compensated Thang with VND9 million to pay for the funeral of his wife and daughter.
The case is under investigation.
