A mournful atmosphere enveloped the small village.
On May 23, we returned to hamlet 2, Minh Trung village, Truong Giang commune, where 2 families were preparing for the funeral of 3 unfortunate children. A mournful atmosphere enveloped the small hamlet.
Many people are still in shock because they did not expect that the usually gentle Tra Khuc River would be the place to end the lives of young children.
At about 3 pm on May 22, N.T. Q. N (11 years old) took an electric motorbike to her house to pick up 2 younger siblings of N.'s uncle, N.Q. Q (13 years old) and N.T. H (11 years old) to the Tra Khuc river section passing An Binh beach in hamlet 4, Minh Khanh village to swim in the river.
Until evening, still not seeing their children return, the 2 families panicked and went looking for them. Ms. Le Thi Thuy Trang (42 years old), N's mother, recounted in shock: "Normally, my child also often takes a car to play around the neighborhood. But yesterday, waiting for a long time and not seeing my child return, my husband and I felt uneasy, afraid something bad would happen, so we rushed to report to the police.
By the morning of May 23, after a night of searching efforts, functional forces and people found the bodies of N. and Q. in the downstream area of the Tra Khuc River about 3km from the beach location. H.'s body was finally found about 6km downstream from the accident location.
My husband and I didn't sleep all night, waiting for our child to come home. This morning, the commune police called to report that a drowning victim had just been found on the riverbank. My hands and feet were numb when I saw my child. When we left, he was happy and healthy, why is it so cold when we get home, my child!", Ms. Trang choked up with the pain of losing her child.
Mr. Nguyen Su (51 years old), N's father, quietly watched his wife cry. N. is the youngest daughter in a family of 3 siblings. The little girl usually has bright, sharp eyes and is very polite. Since bringing N.'s body home, Mr. Su has not said a word, just standing by the coffin of his beloved daughter. The man's tears flowed back inside, deeply suppressing the extreme pain.
Three unfortunate children in a near-poor family
Not far from Mr. Su's house, the family of his younger brother, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc (43 years old), is also heartbroken by the pain of losing 2 sons at the same time. Mr. Ngoc's family is a near-poor household.
Every day, he works as a painter, doing whatever anyone asks him to do to struggle to cover living expenses, raise his wife and 6 children to study. Unstable life keeps poverty clinging to the roof of a large family.
5 years ago, his family was supported to build a charity house. It seemed that from now on, family life would be less difficult. But also during this time, he and his wife had to endure the pain of losing a child due to a drowning accident.
Mr. Ngoc could not have imagined that today disaster would strike his family once again. The pain multiplied when 2 sons passed away at the same time forever.
Q is my first son, and H is my second son. The family is too poor, Q has dropped out of school. My wife's health is not good, she only stays at home to raise her children. I told myself, as long as I am healthy, I will try to work to take care of my wife and children. But why is life so harsh with my family? Having 6 children, 3 of them are already gone!," Mr. Ngoc said blankly.
His wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Luu (34 years old) just gave birth to a young child less than 3 months old. Behind her, her two young children who are only 3 and 5 years old are still bewildered, unable to feel the pain of losing their two biological brothers. Since hearing the bad news, she has only known how to hug her newborn child, sobbing every now and then.
The circumstances were too difficult, not having enough money to hire funeral services, the couple had to rely on the kindness and support of the people in the neighborhood to join hands to donate every penny to take care of the funeral for the 2 children.
Chairman of Truong Giang Commune People's Committee Tran Dai Duong said that immediately after the incident occurred, local authorities quickly arrived to support the two families in arranging the funeral for the children.
We are extremely sympathetic to the great loss of both families. As for Mr. Ngoc's household, whose economic situation is particularly difficult, the locality is urgently calling on philanthropists to join hands to support and help so that the family has more support and can soon overcome this difficult period," Mr. Duong informed.
