20 fishermen still missing after Vietnam typhoon
HANOI - Authorities were still searching for 20 fishermen a week after their boat disappeared following a typhoon that killed 12 people in central Vietnam, officials said.
The fishing vessel QNA-1431 was last seen last Saturday.
"They were fishing around 350 miles (560 kilometres) off the coast," a local flood and storm control official said. "We are a little bit worried but we will keep searching for them."
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai ordered local authorities to organize rescue operations and to repair dykes, drains, reservoirs and embankments damaged by the typhoon.
Some 12 people were killed in three central regions according to an official report by the local flood and storm control.
Material losses in the whole region were estimated at 120 billion dong (7.5 million dollars).
The storm sank dozens of fishing boats and destroyed hundreds of houses.
Flood water also swamped tens of thousands of hectares of rice fields and other crops.
Agence France Presse - June 19, 2004.
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