~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2001]

70 children killed in Vietnam floods

HANOI - A lack of basic lifesaving equipment was blamed by aid workers Friday for the deaths of scores of children during floods in Vietnam's Mekong Delta which have now killed 79 people and left tens of thousands homeless. Seventy of the victims were children, according to officials attending a Red Cross briefing here on relief efforts in what is already the country's second worst flooding disaster in 40 years. Officials also warned that the floods in southern Vietnam would hit a new peak later this month and the impact would be felt for many months yet.

Vietnam Red Cross President Nguyen Trong Nhan said: "Our experience in the last year (tells us) that the disaster will be even more serious than last time." Marshall Silver, a senior technical advisor for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the high number of children being killed was particularly distressing. "Life vests for children are not working. The families believe that just putting some sort of life belt around the waist will keep children from drowning. It does not," he said. "You need professional life vests which keep the head above water and those are not available."

In the worst affected areas, water levels have reached three metres above normal levels for this time of year. But the flooding started later than last year's devastating rains in which more than 400 people were drowned. The late start to the annual flooding season also enabled farmers to gather in around 95 percent of their rice crops in the area, although the Red Cross and UNDP said supplies of rice and instant noodles were needed. "This is a bad flood but it started very late so people will not be subjected to floods for as long as they were in 2000," said Silver. "Our experience is that we get one or two peaks and the prediction is that flood levels will start to go up again. We have had one peak already, the second will be possibly next week." Red Cross official Dr Nguyen Thi Hoi said: "The water level is fluctuating on a daily basis. In provinces located upstream the tidal effect prevents the water receding."

She said many of the victims had been drawn to the worst-hit provinces such as Long An and Dong Thap to buy rice. "Since the liberalisation of rice exports, lots of people are engaging in this business and they are not aware of how to cope with this disaster. "The children that have been killed so far are mostly from families who migrated to the Mekong Delta." The government and aid agencies have been providing flood victims with medical supplies, water purification chemicals, boats and food. The aid workers said the best way to protect children was to provide them with more life jackets and establish kindergartens to keep children busy and away from dykes which frequently collapse.

According to the latest government figures, 16,255 households have been evacuated while a further 13,273 need to be evacuated.

Agence France Presse - September 14, 2001.