Authorities said that the exact number of people being buried in the landslide remains unknown.
A local official of Ha Giang’s Bac Me District confirmed that the body of the 11th deceased victim was recovered by the afternoon of the same day.
The four injured, including one child and three adults, were rushed to the Ha Giang Provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment, with their health condition stable now.
A Ford Transit, with 16 occupants, encountered a landslide-hit road section when it was approaching a National Highway 34 section in Bac Me’s Yen Dinh Commune at around 4:00 am, according to local authorities.
The National Highway 34 links Ha Giang with neighboring Cao Bang Province.
When all of the occupants got out of the car to team up with some passers-by to push the vehicle stuck in the mud, a mountainside suddenly collapsed, sending thousands of cubic meters of earth and debris onto the road and burying all of them.
A search and rescue operation was quickly launched shortly after the incident, with the participation of more than 100 rescuers and healthcare workers.
At the scene of the incident, an estimated 50,000 cubic meters of mud and debris fell onto the road section.
Tran Duc Quy, vice-chairman of the Ha Giang administration, said that he had visited and offered financial support to the injured and the bereaved families.
