Hanoi: Floods and landslides caused by a tropical depression have killed at least 43 people, left 34 others missing and damaged homes and crops in northern and central Vietnam, officials said today.

The storm injured 21 people and destroyed or damaged more than 1,000 houses, submerged 16,740 other homes and damaged infrastructure and crops in six central and northern provinces, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said.

In the hardest-hit northern province of Hoa Binh, 17 people died and 15 others were missing. The deaths included four families whose houses were buried in a landslide early Thursday while they were sleeping, killing nine and leaving nine others missing, disaster official Tran Anh Tuan said.

“More than 250 soldiers, police, militiamen and villagers have been mobilized for the search,” Tuan said. “But they are facing difficulties because of the huge volume of soil, mud and rocks that buried the houses.”