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Tropical storm leaves 100 dead, missing in Vietnam
HANOI (AFP) — More than 100 people were dead or missing in flash floods and landslides as heavy rains brought by tropical storm Kammuri pounded mountainous northern Vietnam, officials said Saturday.
At least 72 people have died and 37 are missing since the storm hit the poor and widely deforested region on Friday, having previously lashed Hong Kong and southeastern China, said central and provincial emergency services.
Worst hit was Lao Cai province near the Chinese border, where at least 36 people died and 32 were missing, hundreds of houses were destroyed or damaged, and transport links were cut, isolating some areas, emergency officials said.
"Landslides have hit many areas, but flash floods have caused the largest number of deaths," said Pham Van Quang, an official with the provincial flood and storm control committee. "It's still raining hard here.
"At least 800 houses have been destroyed or damaged. We are still trying to get in touch with local authorities to help the people there. Rescue efforts are ongoing but they are being slowed by the severe weather."
State-run VTV showed residents in Lao Cai moving on wooden canoes through a town where flood waters reached the roofs of one-storey houses.
Quang said that authorities were updating the figures of dead and missing, but that they had no contact with some districts because of damaged telephone lines and cut-off roads, including the "completely isolated" Bat Xat district.
PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR THESE PEOPLE WHOM WE HAVE COME TO LOVE SO MUCH. IT IS HARD TO BE SO FAR AWAY FROM THEM AND UNABLE TO HELP AT THIS TIME.
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