Vietnam Morning Monitor: Chinese tourist fined for flying drone in no-fly zone, 14 hospitalized after eating puffer fish

|POLITICS

-- Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia Valentina Matvienko will pay an official visit to Vietnam from November 11 to 13.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man.

-- Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and Prime Minister Le Minh Hung on Monday sent messages of condolence to Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk over a recent mass shooting in the city of Krakow.

The November 7 shooting left many people dead and injured.

|SOCIETY

-- The Department of Health in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam reported two cases of meningococcal disease on Monday.

The first patient is a 53-year-old male factory worker, while the second is a seven-year-old schoolboy.

All contacts of the patients have been traced and given preventive antibiotics.

-- High waves combined with high tides have eroded a 100-meter stretch of coastline in Thuan An Ward, Hue City, central Vietnam by more than 20 meters inland, uprooting many decades-old casuarina trees.

A road connecting a residential area to the beach has also been eroded, with sections of its surface peeling away and undercut gaps forming beneath it.

As an immediate measure, local authorities are reviewing households living near the eroded area so they can be relocated promptly if necessary to protect lives and property.

-- Da Nang City Police's immigration management division said on its website on Monday that it had coordinated with relevant agencies to fine a Chinese tourist VND25 million (US$980) for illegally operating a drone in a no-fly zone in the city.

The tourist also had the drone confiscated.

Specifically, the Chinese national was found operating a DJI Mavic 3 drone in a residential quarter in Son Tra Ward, an area designated as a no-fly zone. The operator had not obtained a flight permit from the competent authorities.

Da Nang City Police advised residents, domestic and foreign tourists, and organizations and individuals wishing to use unmanned aerial vehicles or ultralight aircraft to proactively learn about and strictly comply with legal regulations, and check information on no-fly zones.

-- Fourteen residents of Phu Hai fishing village in Lam Dong Province, central Vietnam have been hospitalized after eating puffer fish, with one patient in critical condition, Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper reported.

Binh Thuan General Hospital said on Monday morning that it was providing intensive treatment to the 14 patients for puffer fish poisoning.

One of them is in extremely serious condition, having fallen into a deep coma and suffering severe kidney failure.

-- Dozens of workers were busy dismantling large support frames at the Saigon River pedestrian bridge construction site on Monday.

With the help of a crane mounted on a barge, each steel frame was carefully lowered onto the barge to ensure safety.

Meanwhile, other groups of workers continued construction at both ends of the bridge, near Bach Dang Wharf and Thu Thiem.

Construction teams are focusing on completing the bridge deck, installing railings and an artistic lighting system, and landscaping the areas at both ends of the bridge.

The bridge is scheduled to open to traffic before the 2027 Lunar New Year.

Gong Festival in Central Highlands