109 phones stolen on night of historic Da Nang floods

A shop of electronics retail chain Dien May Xanh of Mobile World Corporation in Lien Chieu District reported that on the night of Oct. 14, when Da Nang was suffering from severe floods, it had allowed nine people on the street to seek shelter inside.

Shop employees later discovered that glass surfaces had been shattered, the people had left, and several plastic bags containing numerous phones were gone.

Pham Bao Duy, 24, Ho Minh Tri, 19, Ha Cong Tien Dat, 20, Nguyen Ba Hoang Quan, 20, and Ta Quoc Thang, 23, were then arrested for the alleged theft, police said Wednesday.

The five suspects said that while wading back home amid floodwaters, they saw the Dien May Xanh shop with its windows shattered and no one inside, prompting them to enter and steal phones.

Police have managed to reclaim 38 phones out of the 109 reported missing by Dien May Xanh.

Due to impacts of Storm Son Ca, the central hub Da Nang received rainfall of up to 795 millimeters from 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday last week. The downpour was particularly heavy for the first six hours with the rainfall gauged at 500 millimeters.

The downpour, described by Da Nang authorities as “historic” and “unprecedented,” inundated the entire city on Friday night. Some parts of coastal Lien Chieu District recorded flood water at almost two meters.