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.”
More rains were forecast for parts of the northern and central regions Thursday as a cold spell moves from southern China to Vietnam.
