Reporter Thanh Nien on All Roads: ‘Suck to Death’ on the Work Path, Forward or Backward? | News



[ad_1]

I am a resident reporter, in charge of a province in the Central region with a lot of rain and storms like Quang Tri for more than 10 years, so more or less I think I have accumulated experience working in storms and floods. Before, during and after floods and storms, journalists must go where, what to do, who to go with to be safe and secure …

But with a natural disaster like a landslide, my long “experience” seems to be just … equal to zero. In the 2020 landslide incident, I was almost the victim.

At the site of the landslide, 22 officers and soldiers from Division 337 were suspected of being buried.

The phone call at dawn

At 2:00 a.m. on October 18, 2020, the phone rang, giving me the feeling that something was wrong. In fact, initially it was unconfirmed information, but it froze my spine: 22 soldiers from the 337 Division were buried in the rock.

Reporter Thanh Nien on All Roads: 'Suck to Death' on the Work Path, Forward or Backward?  - Photo 1

Wanting to enter the scene at this time, people had to go through many severe landslides.

At 6 in the morning, I got into the Quang Tri Province Department of Transportation vehicle, heading for Huong Phung Commune (Huong Hoa District), where Group 337 is located. Entering the West Branch from the Ho Chi Minh Highway, many landslides were encountered.

About 3 km from the site, all the vehicles had to stop because a large pile of dirt fell from the mountain, blocking the road … At this point, I started transferring images, clips and some content. to the newsroom.

Around 8 in the morning, I decided not to wait any longer and move on. Our team includes the army of engineers, the army in charge of the incarnation and various journalists. As we groped for the scene of the previous landslide, we walked in long lines, following the edge of the road and stepping on branches to keep it from sinking into the mud.

Reporter Thanh Nien on All Roads: 'Suck to Death' on the Work Path, Forward or Backward?  - Photo 2

The whole group went through many serious landslides.

Suddenly I heard shouts from outsiders: “Run! Run! “At the same time, overhead, I heard a roar. People ran for their lives, someone even stepped on me … I too ran away, when I looked back, I saw the rocks, the trees falling where I had just left, rushing into the abyss.

The incident nearly “split” our team, half turned around and half moved forward. It was the first landslide I ever witnessed, realizing that the god of death was only about 10 meters from me. It all took place for only about 30 seconds.

Reporter Thanh Nien on All Roads: 'Suck to Death' on the Work Path, Forward or Backward?  - Photo 3

Writer at the time just had trouble smoking death

In a panic, I texted the newsroom that I was in trouble. After 1 minute of silence, my phone rings continuously, all the advice, even the “orders”, ask: “Back off, no more …”. My ears were ringing, and in fact I couldn’t walk now. It took me several minutes to calm down. At that moment, I looked back to see that my backpack, camera … were covered in dirt, my hands and feet were ripped with blood. Neither did my colleagues, the army soldiers weren’t doing better.

Obsess

I was assisted by the leader of the Quang Tri Province Transportation Department to take the car to the TT.Khe Sanh more than 20 km from the place to rest. In the afternoon of the same day, when the PV group Youth Others (Mai Thanh Hai, Hoang Son) reinforce the scene, then I go home.

After facing death for the first time, I went home, opened the door, hugged my wife and children, and cried. That night, fear tormented me. Those horrible 30 seconds kept going back and forth in my mind, screaming “Run!” and rumbling footsteps, loud explosions … they keep sweating all over the body.

That night, I used to worry that tomorrow I would definitely not be returning to the scene at Division 337 … But then when I was sleeping, at 4:30 the next morning, there was a phone call from a highway driver. Long press release I have to go to Dong Ha bus station to get relief articles from the newspaper Youth. After all, when I had a quiet night, at 7:00 am the next morning, I was back at the scene of the incident in Division 337, alongside my colleagues.

Reporter Thanh Nien on All Roads: 'Suck to Death' on the Work Path, Forward or Backward?  - Photo 4

Writer on the way to the site of the terrible landslide in Doan 337 (Huong Phung Commune, Huong Hoa District, Quang Tri)

A senior in the profession once told me that, for journalism, there should be anti-trauma classes. Because journalists often have to witness terrible things, injustices, deaths, disasters … It will definitely affect journalists and mentally disturb them. But for me, I didn’t expect to get over that “shock” of sucking death so fast … so fast: only after 1 night did I go back to work. I realized that if people are busy, there is no time to think about terrible memories, when new jobs override old memories, everything happens easily …

During the afternoon tea ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel Do Duy Hai (Chief of Police H.Gio Linh, Quang Tri) told the story that I found myself in it. During the historic flood, the police group H.Gio Linh, when he went to save people, was overturned by a canoe. The lieutenant colonel immediately withdrew all the people in that overturned canoe, replaced with new forces to continue the work. “The brothers at that moment panicked, they lost their souls. If they are forced to continue, they will and they will fear, the efficiency is not high, but sometimes more problems occur, ”said Colonel Hai.
In my particular story, I … took a moment to step back before moving on. And I’m feeling good. The direction “Back, you will not follow any more” of the office brothers, the wording was also correct. After all, no news is as valuable as life, no newsroom wants to exchange good news and lose its reporters. None of the readers wanted their messenger to have a sad ending …

Dozens of officers and soldiers from the 337th Division were buried in Quang Tri



[ad_2]