40 dead, 22 missing as downpours, flash floods pound northern, central Vietnam

Hundreds of search and rescue officers are looking for victims buried by a landslide that collapsed seven houses early morning on October 12 in Hoa Binh Province. Photo by VnExpress

The death toll continues to mount as heavy rains leave a trail of destruction. 
Heavy rains have triggered flash floods in northern and central Vietnam over the past two days, leaving 40 dead and 22 missing and causing havoc in many provinces.

A landslide in the early hours on Thursday in Hoa Binh Province has collapsed seven houses, burying 18 people. So far, three people have been rescued and eight are confirmed dead.

The incident has increased Hoa Binh's death toll to 15, the highest among all provinces. Nghe An and Thanh Hoa have reported eight deaths.

Five deaths have been reported in Son La Province, while three people are missing and hundreds of houses and many hectares of crops have been destroyed.

In Yen Bai Province, four people were killed and 11 people are missing, including a Vietnam News Agency reporter who was swept away when a bridge connecting Highway 32 in Nghia Lo Commune collapsed.

The floods are the result of a tropical depression that is sweeping through northern and central provinces.

Vietnam has already suffered destructive stormy weather this year. Floods in northern Vietnam killed at least 26 people and washed away hundreds of homes in August before Typhoon Doksuri, the strongest to hit the country in years, killed at least eight people in the central region last month.

Last year, tropical storms and flooding killed 264 people in Vietnam and caused damage worth VND40 trillion ($1.75 billion), nearly five times more than in 2015.

Source: VnExpress