When heavy rains caused deep flooding in Khanh Hoa since mid-November, Arshaad Yousuph, a South African tourist, read a series of calls for help on social media.
He ran to the military command headquarters in Nha Trang to ask for guidance to participate in relief and rescue, but there was a power outage and communication was interrupted. He stayed up all night to monitor the situation because he was worried about the people.
On the night of November 19, hearing that people were temporarily evacuated in the shopping mall area, he walked nearly 3km in the rain to ask to participate. Given life jackets and food by locals and led to a rescue team, Arshaad and everyone transferred food by small raft, even though rising water made many points inaccessible.
On the morning of November 20, he continued to return, this time participating in a volunteer group coordinated by Mr. Nguyen Van Thien, along with a rescue boat to approach Vinh Ngoc, Vinh Phuong and support the supply of electricity to Yersin Hospital.
The story of the South African guy made Vietnamese people appreciate his affection for the locals. Ms. Phuong Hue, a resident of Nha Trang, shared the moment she met a male tourist at the overpass at night, asking to go with the relief group. The post attracted hundreds of thousands of interactions, shares and comments thanking Arshaad for his kindness.
"In the flooded night, there was a Tay (according to the investigation, his name was Arshaad Yousuph, a tourist who came to Nha Trang from the South African Republic, quietly asking a rescue team to follow him to rescue people from the flooded area. He said he was a diver," Ms. Hue said.
Sharing with Lao Dong on November 29 before welcoming his flight back to South Africa, Arshaad could not help but be moved when recalling the days when Nha Trang was submerged in floodwaters.
He modestly admitted that he was just a swimmer who wanted to help people in flooded areas, and that the true heroes were Vietnamese volunteers who had been shoulder to shoulder all night.
Arshaad said that what he remembers most is the kindness and warmth of the Vietnamese people in times of trouble. This is the reason he wants to return to Nha Trang next year to continue helping the community where he considers his second hometown.
