37 dead as floods, landslides ravage in Vietnam

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At least 37 people have been killed and some 40 are still missing as heavy rain has pounded northern and central Vietnam, causing severe flooding and landslides, disaster officials said Thursday.

Reuters reported that the death toll was among the highest recorded in the country from flooding.

Northern Hoa Binh province has been the hardest hit with 11 dead and 21 missing. A state of emergency has been declared in that region, according to Vietnam Television.

"We are mobilizing all forces to search for the missing," a disaster official in the province told AFP news agency by phone.

At least 400 millimeters of rain have pounded northern and central Vietnam since Sunday, the disaster agency said.

Local Vietnamese can be seen fighting flood waters on October 11, 2017‍. /VCG Photo

Altogether, the 37 people killed were spread out across six provinces, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said.

At least 18 people were buried in an overnight landslide in Hoa Binh province, with 15 people still missing Thursday, according to state media.

Eight people were reported dead in both Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces, the disaster agency said, while hundreds of soldiers and militia have been deployed for rescue efforts.

Images on state media have shown people wading through waist-deep waters and tracts of forests wiped out by landslides in several regions.

More than 17,000 households have been evacuated, some 18,000 houses have been submerged or damaged, and more than 8,000 hectares of rice fields have been damaged, according to Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

This is not the first bout of severe weather to hit Vietnam this year. In September, typhoon Doksuri slammed into central Vietnam, killing 11 people and destroying thousands of properties.

So far, nearly 170 people have been killed or are still missing from natural disasters this year, which have caused 36 million US dollars of damage, according to official figures.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters