A man used a heavy-duty drone to rescue two children who were trapped in the middle of a raging stream. The incident took place in Ia Tu commune, Gia Lai province, Vietnam.
An investigation revealed that the drone was operated by 35-year-old farmer Tran Van Nghia. He had purchased the drone about two months earlier for spraying pesticides on his crops.
While spraying agricultural chemicals in a field, Nghia heard loud cries for help. When he rushed to investigate, he saw children surrounded by murky water, with clear signs that the water level was rising. He decided to use his drone after witnessing a local man jump into the stream to rescue the kids, only to retreat due to the strong current.
Nghia admitted that he had never used a drone to rescue people before, but there was no time to think. He ran to his vehicle, grabbed a rope, tied it to the drone, flew it over to the children, and lowered the rope. Since the drone could only carry about 50 kilograms, the children had to be transported one at a time.
“When I was flying the drone to bring the first child to safety, my hands and legs were trembling,” Nghia recalled. “What worried me most was that as the kids were being flown through the air, they might look down at the rushing water, panic, and let go—or if something went wrong, it could be very dangerous. For safety reasons, I even asked someone nearby to film the rescue in case I needed to provide evidence to authorities.”
As a side note, debris from a Shahed drone—including part of a wing—was recently washed ashore on a beach in Odesa, where many locals and tourists were relaxing.
