More A/H1N1 infections reported

96 people have contracted A/H1N1 influenza since early this year, including one fatal case, said Dr Tran Thanh Duong, Deputy Chief of the Health Ministry’s Preventative Medicine and Environment Department, on February 8.

So far, the infection has spread to eight provinces and cities, namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Giang, Long An, Tay Ninh, Dong Nai, Lang Son and Khanh Hoa.

In the meantime, reports by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and Pasteur Institute show no new cases of A/H5N1 virus infection in the past week.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on February 2 that one more person in Egypt had contracted the A/H5N1 virus. The male patient, seven years old, was admitted to the hospital on January 10, bringing the number of A/H5N1-infected cases to three.

Since 2003, 519 people in 15 countries around the world have been infected by the deadly virus, with a total of 306 deaths.

20,000 people visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

More than 20,000 people, half of them foreigners, have visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum during the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet), said the mausoleum’s management board.

The board has beautifully decorated the Ba Dinh Square, taking care of the yellow apricot trees presented by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.

The number of foreign visitors to the mausoleum has increased by 3-4 times over the previous year, during the Tet holiday.

The mausoleum was temporarily closed from February 4-7 and reopened on February 8, said the management board.

2,000 peace doves for Da Nang

Over 400 doves were released at a peace bird garden in the central city of Da Nang on February 8.

The Son Tra peninsula company along with tourism agents of Da Nang City has constructed a peace bird garden in the East Sea Park on Pham Van Dong beach.

People released doves in the sky with the wish that the garden would offer peace and solace forever to all people from the beginning of the year 2011.

The peace bird garden in the East Sea Park has been ready since March 2009 with two aviaries with over 1,000 birds. Unfortunately, insensitive residents surreptitiously seized birds or teased them causing the loss of hundreds of birds.

The management committee now wishes to have over 2,000 doves in the garden which would symbolize peace.

Criminal ringleader stabbed to death in Can Tho

A 22-year-old gang leader was arrested for killing another ringleader in an underworld bloody attack at the Xe Loi (Pedicab) Club in Ninh Kieu District in the southern city of Can Tho at 2:20 am today.

Dam Le Quoc Tuan, alias Tuan “Lap Vo” was taken in for killing his senior Nguyen Xuan Thien, nicknamed Thien Le, 38, considered one of the big leaders of the gangland in Can Tho.

Before the incident, the killer hailing from the southern Hau Giang Province but temporarily residing in Can Tho already boasted two criminal records.

That early morning, Tuan and Thien led their respective gangs to the club for a booze-up.

Initially, the two sides exchanged greetings but when the two leaders went together to a toilet, they quarreled over past conflicts, including a case in which Tuan used a scimitar to attack one of Thien’s gang members.

During their quarrel, Thien clamped his arms onto Tuan and drew a knife from his trouser pocket.

Tuan grabbed the knife and then stabbed it into Thien’s chest. Thien ran away from the toilet crying for help, but Tuan ran after him and continued stabbing him to death.

The club’s guards seized Tuan on the scene and handed him over to the police.

Man held on weapon charge admits to ATM theft

A man arrested for storing a handmade gun and a grenade in the northern province of Vinh Phuc admitted he was among the culprits of a successful ATM theft that saw US$20,500 stolen last month in Hanoi.

Doan Tien Dat, 21, of Hanoi also confessed to the police he and several others were preparing for another ATM theft in Vinh Phuc.

On Jan 20, Dat and Phan Van Hung hailing from Vinh Phuc Province used a butane torch to cut open the money box of the ATM in Hanoi’s Soc Son District and stole VND400 million ($20,500).

The ATM belongs to the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

Dat is the first to get caught in connection with an ATM theft in Hanoi.

Over the last three months, thieves have attempted to break into five ATM booths in the capital, but fled the scenes after being caught.

Down south, two ATMs in Ho Chi Minh City have been attacked in the past several months with a total of over VND2 billion (US$102,000) stolen, prompting commercial banks to apply additional safety measures to protect their machines.

Signal may have failed in Bien Hoa train crash

While there has been no official information yet about the cause of the massive train crash in Bien Hoa last Sunday that killed two people and injured 26 others, a railway official said a signal was not functioning at the time of the accident.

Authorities are investigating why the train continued to move on to a bridge which was filled with cars and motorbikes, and are analyzing its black box.

The train, SE2, traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, went on to plow into six cars stuck on the Ghenh Bridge.

A 49-year-old man and his 20-year-old son were killed but most of the injured people have recovered.

Tran Huu Chien, director of the Saigon Railway Management Company, which is in charge of the Bien Hoa section, said officials found the signal at the approach to the bridge not working after the accident.

But it is not known when it broke down, he underlined.

“We must investigate if the light failed before the accident.”

The bridge, built more than 100 years ago, is narrow but is designed to handle both rail and road traffic.

On Monday police arrested the driver and assistant driver of SE2 and five officials in charge of a grade crossing at the site.

Student shoots dead man for blocking view

An 18-year-old high school student was arrested for shooting dead a man at about 23 pm last night at the Heaven 69 Dance Hall in Le Mao Ward, Vinh City, central Nghe An Province.

Nguyen Khac Nhat, of Ben Thuy Ward killed Nguyen Tuan Trung, 28, of the city’s Hong Son Ward allegedly after a quarrel.

Nhat is just an 11th grader at the city-based Nguyen Truong To High School.

Local police seized Nhat’s gun at a local hotel two hours after he committed the crime.

Nhat told police he quarreled with Trung as the latter blocked his view at the dance hall.

After Nhat told Trung to move, one of Trung’s friends threw a glass cup at the face of one friend of Nhat’s.

In a fit of anger, Nhat used a home-made gun he brought along with him to shoot Trung, who died later in hospital.

Possessing a gun or other explosives is illegal in Vietnam.

35 rescued as bus plunges underwater

A bus plunged into a canal in the central Phu Yen Province Tuesday, submerging some 60 passengers in water, with only 35 rescued.

It is not known what happened to the others, or if they had gone home right after the accident.

Meanwhile, authorities put a halt to the search for the missing victims Wednesday morning and said they have not found any bodies in the 6-meter-deep canal.

The exact number of passengers in the bus is not known, but Le Lia, a 75-year-old passenger, told Tuoi Tre it was carrying some 60 locals, including elders and children, on their lunar New Year trip on the National Highway No. 25.

“The bus wavered and crashed into the irrigation canal when it arrived in Phu Hoa District. Some people used helmets to break the windows and swam ashore,” he said.

When rescuers pulled the bus out of the ditch, they said no person was found inside.

It overturned and was submerged into water at the site of the accident.

Most of the rescued passengers suffered from external injuries.

Nearby residents said it was likely that many people were swept away by the swift currents.

Flights southward packed with passengers

Local airlines’ flights have fully packed with passengers from the northern and central regions to Ho Chi Minh City to return to work after a eight days offs for the Lunar New Year, or Tet holiday.

Both Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific said their flights southward with full seat occupancy would go on probably until around February 20.

Representatives of the two largest carriers in Vietnam said most passengers on their flights returning to HCMC were those who had confirmed their reservation before Tet.

Demand still outpaces Vietnam Airlines’ domestic services to Tan Son Nhat Airport.

The carrier announced in its latest statement that only business-class seats were available for booking on its flights from Hanoi and Danang to HCMC until February 13.

Air Mekong is in the same situation. The private carrier has a limited number of business class seats to sell on its eight daily flights from Hanoi between now and February 13.