Vietnamese embassy in UK raises funds for flood-hit localities
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese Embassy in the UK launched a fund-raising campaign on October 23 in support of people in the central region of Vietnam following a period of natural disasters hitting the area.
In his comments to mark the launch of the campaign, Ambassador Tran Ngoc An expressed his sympathies to citizens of the central region regarding the significant losses of human lives and damage to property which has been caused by the serious and prolonged period of flooding.
He therefore called on embassy staff, the Vietnamese community in the UK, and local friends to unite in assisting people in the disaster-hit region to overcome the consequences of the disaster and stabilise their lives.
In response to this call, all of the embassy’s staff donated a days salary to the fund, which also received donations from the Vietnamese Students’ Association in the UK and the Vietnam-UK Network. In total, the event raised over £5,000, equivalent to over US$6,520.
According to the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, flooding which began on October 6 has killed a total of 111 people, whilst a further 22 individuals remain missing nationwide as of 7 a.m. on October 21. In addition, approximately 371 hectares of rice paddies have been left submerged, whilst a further 7,126 hectares of crops have been damaged, and over 700,000 cattle and poultry have either been killed or swept away.
Furthermore, the floods have also inflicted substantial damage upon local agriculture, irrigation, and transport infrastructure.
Moving forward, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK will also carry out activities in which to encourage further donations to the fund in order to help people in the central region overcome the difficulties caused by the weather event.
Elsewhere, as much as US$19,200 was raised by Vietnamese expats in Thailand’s Udon Thani province to support flood victims back in the homeland in a programme held on October 23.
Meanwhile, overseas Vietnamese living and working in the Czech Republic handed to representatives of the Vietnam Fatherland Front including VND920 million for the flood victims and VND100 million for poor people in the homeland.