Cargo Drone Rescues Children From Flash Flood in Vietnam

On July 3, in a remarkable bit of quick thinking, a Vietnamese farmer used his drone — usually used to spread fertilizer — to save two children from a flooded river.

Tran Van Nghia was working his land in Gia Lai, in Vietnam’s central highlands, when he heard a cry for help from the nearby Ba River. Speaking to local news organization Tuoi Tre Online, Tran explained that some children had been herding cows across the river when a sudden surge of water — likely from monsoon rains upstream — trapped them off on a fast-submerging island in the middle of the river.

Locals tried to swim to the children, but the current was too strong, and instead, people rushed off to find a canoe. But with the water rising quickly, Tran felt forced to act. He attached a rope to his drone and proceeded to airlift two of the three children from the fast-disappearing island. The third child was then rescued by canoe soon after.

You can see two videos of the rescue below:

Martin Walsh

Martin Walsh is a writer and editor for ExplorersWeb.

Martin spent most of the last 15 years backpacking the world on a shoestring budget. Whether it was hitchhiking through Syria, getting strangled in Kyrgyzstan, touring Cambodia’s medical facilities with an exceedingly painful giant venomous centipede bite, chewing khat in Ethiopia, or narrowly avoiding various toilet-related accidents in rural China, so far, Martin has just about survived his decision making.

Based in Da Lat, Vietnam, Martin can be found in the jungle trying to avoid leeches while chasing monkeys.