Regardless of their lack of fluency in Vietnamese and having by no means traveled earlier than, they set out on their journey to the capital. They pedaled previous the residence of Ha Van Chuan in Mai Chau district, the northern province of Hoa Binh, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Noticing the boys’ exhausted and hungry state, together with their blistered and swollen toes, Chuan, collectively together with his spouse, welcomed them inside for a meal, a shower, and a haircut earlier than notifying the Mai Chau district police.
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Chu (L) and Hinh after being found by locals and transported to the Mai Chau district police station on April 18, 2024. Picture courtesy of Mai Chau district police |
Bui Van Duy, a district police officer, reported that the boys had been unable to recall their full names. The older boy recognized himself as Chu, age 15, and the youthful boy Hinh, age 13. Their neighborhood’s title escaped them, they usually solely talked about originating from “Muong Cha,” which is believed to be the Muong Cha district within the northern province of Dien Bien.
“We’ve solely been in a position to get hold of minimal data because the boys belong to the Hmong ethnic group, have by no means attended college, and battle with the Vietnamese language,” Duy mentioned.
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The bicycles ridden by Chu and Hinh on their journey – presumably so far as from the northern border province of Dien Bien tons of of kilometers away – in direction of Hanoi. Picture courtesy of Mai Chau district police |
The police introduced the brothers to the station that very same evening to safe lodging and organize a well being examination. An officer proficient within the Hmong language was additionally assigned to help the boys and assist in gathering additional data to find their households.
By Friday morning, with their bodily well being and psychological had state improved, Chu revealed that that they had set out for Hanoi roughly two weeks in the past after an acquaintance, whose identification remained unknown, gave them two previous bicycles.
Missing information of the path to the capital, they selected to observe the principle highway and ask for instructions alongside the way in which.
The Mai Chau district police have reached out to the police and training division of Muong Cha district to verify particulars and hint the brothers’ household, however no progress had been made by Friday afternoon.
The officers estimated that if the brothers actually began their journey from Muong Cha district, they’d have lined over 400 km by the point they arrived at Chuan’s place in Hoa Binh.