Vietnam floods leave 12 dead or missing
HANOI - Twelve people have been killed or missing feared dead after heavy summer rains triggered flash-floods and mudslides that destroyed 400 houses in mountainous northern Vietnam, officials said.
Four people died in Bac Kan province and five had been missing since early Tuesday and were feared drowned, said provincial flood control official Ha Kim Oanh, who warned more floods were expected in the coming weeks.
Two more people were killed in Vinh Phuc province, and one in Lang Son province bordering China, said an official of the National Flood and Storm Control Committee in the capital Hanoi.
Hundreds of villagers had been evacuated in remote Bac Kan where heavy rains have swollen rivers and cut roads, said an official in Bac Kan town, 125 kilometres (75 miles) north of Hanoi.
The national government has warned 16 northern provinces to prepare for more severe storms ahead after weather services predicted higher than usual rainfall in coming months.
Agence France Presse - July 20, 2006.
|