Vietnam and Cambodia held a maiden disaster response drill along their border on Wednesday, with the participation of 2,000 troops and civilians to cope with a chemical leak, followed by a medical examination conducted by a Vietnamese hospital for Cambodian people.

The exercise was staged for the first time ever in Duc Hue District, Long An Province, Vietnam and Svay Rieng, Cambodia, pursuant to a protocol signed by the two countries’ defense ministries on July 20, 2017.

Troops, chemical forces, medical personnel, border guards, and civilians from both sides, all amounting to 2,000 people, joined the drill.

They took part in three tasks, including setting up and operating a joint rescue command center, responding to a chemical disaster, and relief efforts after the disaster.

The drill’s scenario was that a storm made landfall in Chanthrea, Svay Rieng Province, which borders southern Vietnam’s Long An Province. A chemical leak followed the landfall in the district.

The Cambodian side sent an urgent dispatch to Vietnam asking for help.

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense immediately mobilized their forces to cooperate with their Cambodian counterpart to repond to the chemical leakage and evacuate civilians from dangerous areas.

Upon arrival in Cambodia, the Vietnamese military coordinated with the Cambodian military to establish a joint rescue command center.

All forces were quick to access the leakage zone so as to save the victims. Tens of ambulances carried the unconscious and injured victims to makeshift hospitals for emergency care.

A helicopter was deployed above the leak area in preparation for any emergency support.

The Vietnamese military’s chemical corps then showed up, swiftly cordoning off the contaminated area and detoxifying it.

Before the exercise, the Vietnamese defense ministry opened a friendship medical facility and transferred it, together with equipment, to Chanthrea District.

The 175 Military Hospital, located in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, checked 200 Cambodians and gave them medicine for free following the drill.

Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense also gifted Cambodia boats and propulsors.

The Vietnamese Seventh Military Zone, tasked with defending the southeastern region of Vietnam, gave away presents to 200 Cambodian civilians and some tools and devices for the medical facility.

Long An authorities then connected the medical facility to a power source for its operations.

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