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| General Nguyen Tan Cuong (seventh from left, first row), Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence, poses for a photo with officers and servicemen before their departure for Venezuela to carry out humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief missions. (Photo: VNA) |
Hanoi (VNA) – “We identify saving lives in Venezuela as the same as saving lives in our own homeland,” Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Search and Rescue Department under the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA), said on June 28 ahead of the deployment of a Vietnamese military mission to support earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Ministry of National Defence’s conference assigning tasks to personnel participating in the humanitarian and disaster-relief mission, Major General Ty, who is head of the Vietnamese military mission to Venezuela, stressed that the deployment reflects Vietnam’s commitment to international solidarity and humanitarian responsibility.
Immediately after receiving information about the devastating earthquake in the South American country, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence directed relevant agencies to assess the situation and formulate support plans. Following careful preparation, an 82-member contingent of officers and professional servicemen was assigned to carry out humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations in the country.
According to Major General Ty, all members of the mission possess strong political mettle, a high sense of responsibility, and readiness to perform their duties under any circumstances. They view the mission not only as an external relations task but also as a humanitarian obligation, approaching the rescue of earthquake victims in Venezuela with the same dedication they would show to their fellow citizens at home.
This marks the third time the VPA has deployed personnel and equipment aboard for humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations. Many members of the current contingent previously participated in earthquake-relief missions in Türkiye in 2023 and Myanmar in 2025, where they demonstrated professionalism, responsibility, and operational effectiveness, helping strengthen international goodwill toward Vietnam and its people.
Regarding operational plans, Ty said search-and-rescue dogs will be deployed first to locate victims trapped beneath collapsed structures. Information will then be relayed to engineering units and local rescue forces to conduct extraction operations.
Engineering personnel will employ advanced technologies, including through-wall radar systems, image and sound detection devices, and specialised rescue equipment to identify victims’ locations. These methods and technologies have already proven effective during previous Vietnamese earthquake-relief missions abroad.
Alongside search-and-rescue operations, military medical teams equipped with doctors, medicines, and medical supplies will provide emergency treatment and healthcare services to disaster victims and rescue personnel.
In addition to specialised rescue equipment, the mission is transporting more than 60 tonnes of food, medicines, and essential relief supplies for the Venezuelan people.
Compared with previous international deployments, the contingent will continue using field-tested equipment while increasing the number of search-and-rescue dogs to eight and strengthening detection capabilities to shorten victim-location time./.
