Vietnamese man survives flood by clinging to tree for 9 days

Phan Minh Thang, a 20-year-old man in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam, miraculously survived for nine days by clinging to a tree after being swept away by floodwaters from the Ayun River.

On Sept. 16, Thang went to the river to watch people fish but dozed off, only to wake and find himself surrounded by rising floodwaters, unable to swim back to shore. Carried 500 meters downstream, he managed to survive by drinking river water and sleeping atop a tree. Thang was rescued by local police on Tuesday and is now recovering from a sore throat and infected feet. Medical experts call his survival under such harsh conditions extremely rare. “I didn’t think I would survive,” Thang said.