Day: February 17, 2022

A representative of Vietnam Airlines in Japan on February 17 confirmed that Japanese police had arrested a suspect who threatened to shoot down a passenger plane of the airline in January.

Earlier, local media reported that the Chiba prefectural police had seized a 17-year-old boy in Yamagata prefecture on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business.

Japan’s Sankei Shimbun quoted local police as saying that the incident occurred at around 10:55 am on January 5 when the Japan branch office of Vietnam Airlines received a threatening phone call. The boy called from his home in Yamagata prefecture and claimed he was “going to shoot down” Flight VN5311, so the pilots “should turn the plane around.”

The aircraft, which was on its way to Hanoi, made an emergency landing at Fukuoka Airport to conduct a safety check. The incident caused the flight a delay of around three hours and 40 minutes.

The boy emerged as a suspect after police traced the phone number and he was arrested on February 15. Police said the boy has admitted making the phone call, adding that the boy has a mental disability.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

China has suspended the import of Vietnamese goods via its Hekou border gate that pairs with Lao Cai of Vietnam due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Deputy head of Lao Cai’s economic zone management board Ha Duc Thuan said on February 17 that Hekou’s border gate management board informed via the hotline that the suspension was due to the detection of new COVID-19 cases in the Chinese district, prompting the Chinese authorities to put Hekou under lockdown and conduct testing on all residents.

The Chinese side also asked for Lao Cai’s coordination to stop trucks from entering Hekou from February 17 until further notice. However, the return of empty trucks will still take place as normal.

Lao Cai’s border gate management board has been requested to inform relevant agencies and businesses about the suspension, Thuan said.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam have been drawn in Group C at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Championship final round following the draw results in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on February 17 (Hanoi time).

According to the Vietnam Football Federation, Vietnam will be in the same group with other two Southeast Asian teams of Thailand and Malaysia, along with the Republic of Korea, the 2020 champion.

The final round of the AFC U23 Asian Championship 2022 will see the competition of 16 teams which are divided into four groups. Eight teams that are group winners and runners-up will advance to the quarterfinals.

In the qualifying round, the U23 Vietnam team won all two matches to win a ticket to the final round. This is also the fourth time in a row that the U23 Vietnam team have entered the final round. The team played the final game of the championship in 2018.

The final round of the AFC U23 Asian Championship 2022 will take place in Uzbekistan from June 1-19.

Source: Vietnam News Agency