FIREWORKS BLAST IN HANOI: Singaporean feared dead
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Oct 6, 2010 - Straits Times
By Lee Jia Xin
A SINGAPOREAN woman could be among one of the three foreigners and a Vietnamese killed in a fireworks explosion during preparations for Hanoi's showcase millennium celebrations on Wednesday.
A spokeman for the Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its embassy had been informed by local authorities in Hanoi of the Singaporean feared dead.
The nationalities of the foreigners could not be officially confirmed,
The explosion occurred when fireworks intended for Hanoi's upcoming 1000th birthday celebration exploded prematurely.
The blast occurred at My Dinh stadium, one of 29 sites in the capital where fireworks were planned for Sunday's anniversary bash.
A YouTube video posted online showed a close-up shot of smoke and ash shooting above the stadium.
Hanoi has spent millions of dollars this year sprucing up the city for the grand celebration, which will include a parade of 30,000 people.
The fireworks display was expected to be the event's grand finale, involving water screens and lasers at the stadium to tell the story of Hanoi's history.
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Damn...RIP to the people..
Hope its no one i know of..
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LOL
good
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Another unfortunate accident.
Really life is short, never knows what happen in the next second.
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some go off with a bang.
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Hanoi fireworks show to proceed despite blast
Posted: 08 October 2010 1707 hrsHANOI: A fireworks spectacle to close Hanoi's millennium celebrations will go ahead despite a blast that killed four people including two Germans during the event's preparations, an official said Friday.
The main show at Hanoi's My Dinh Stadium will proceed on Sunday but 29 other fireworks displays planned throughout the city have been cancelled.
"The artistic fireworks show in My Dinh has been kept. It is part of a special programme separate from that planned for the other 29 points throughout the city," Phan Dang Long, a senior official from the city's propaganda and education commission, told AFP.
The foreign ministry in Berlin has confirmed that two Germans died in the Wednesday morning blast just outside the stadium.
The two men, who were not named, were in their 50s and belonged to a group of 15 Germans working for a Singapore company, a ministry spokesman said.
A Singaporean woman, believed to be a staff of the company was among those killed. Singapore's foreign ministry said its Embassy in Hanoi was in close contacts with authorities there, and that it was providing assistance to her next of kin.
The website of Tuoi Tre newspaper reported Friday that one of the four victims, a Vietnamese, was from the Ministry of Defence.
The blast sent large chunks of metal flying and shattered windows at least 200 metres (yards) away. It occurred in two containers of fireworks, the government said.
Local media reported on Friday that civic officials decided to cancel the 29 other fireworks shows -- one for each of the capital's districts -- so that the funds could be diverted to victims of floods in central Vietnam.
Many residents have gone on online forums to criticise plans to hold the show while residents of flooded areas suffer. The flooding has killed 52 people, inundated farmland and damaged roads.
Hanoi is spending 63 million dollars on 10 days of celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary of the city's founding by a Vietnamese king.
-AFP/wk -
Originally posted by Deino:
Damn...RIP to the people..
Hope its no one i know of..
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Latest update say its cancelled... cos of the recent floods that killed people in Vietnam.
Heard it on Channel U news just now....
Anyway, no update on the Singaporean who died - must have been wrong information given out. -
Originally posted by googoomuck:
-_-
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Originally posted by No_10_Tomas:
LOL
good
stfu
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Vietnam authorities officially identify S'porean victim in fireworks blast
Posted: 09 October 2010 1903 hrsSINGAPORE: Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says Vietnamese authorities have officially identified Madam Seah Li Sa as one of the fatalities in the fireworks explosion near My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi.
The MFA and the Singapore Embassy in Hanoi have informed Mdm Seah's next-of-kin and are helping the family to bring back Mdm Seah's body to Singapore.
A statement by the MFA adds that the chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, Nguyen The Thao, has written to Mdm Seah's family to express his condolences.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also conveyed its condolences to the Singapore Embassy.
The explosion took place on Wednesday as the My Dinh Stadium was being prepared for Hanoi's millennium celebrations.
- CNA/ir
