182 children die in Vietnam floods
HANOI - Seasonal flooding in the southern Mekong Delta, Vietnam's main
rice-growing region, has killed 222 people, including 182 children, the government reported Monday.
The floods, which inundated 253,000 homes in the six provinces affected, have caused an estimated
$45 million in damage, according to the Floods and Storms Control Department.
More than 24,000 families have been evacuated to higher ground. An additional 20,000 still need to be
moved because floodwaters, though now receding, remain dangerously high.
The floods submerged 1,405 schools, preventing 313,000 students from attending classes, the Floods
and Storms Control Department reported.
To reduce the number of children drowning, authorities in the three worst-hit provinces have set up
681 centers to care for some 16,500 children whose farmer parents must go out to earn their living.
Some 190,000 families in the flooded areas are reportedly in need of assistance, but only 43,200 have
received relief supplies.
The Associated Press - October 8, 2001.
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