Floods, landslides claim at least 37

Hanoi. — Floods and landslides after a tropical depression have killed at least 37 people, left another 40 missing and damaged homes and crops in northern and central Vietnam, officials said. The disasters injured 21 people and destroyed or damaged more than 1 000 houses, submerged another 16 740 homes and damaged infrastructure and crops in six central and northern provinces, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

In the hardest-hit northern province of Hoa Binh, 11 people died and 21 others were missing. The casualties include four families whose houses were buried in a landslide early on Thursday while they were sleeping, killing six and leaving another 12 missing, disaster official Quach Viet Hoang said.

Rescuers were trying to search for the missing, Hoang added. Evacuations were ordered for 200 000 people in Ninh Binh province in the north. The tropical depression hit central Vietnam on Tuesday and brought heavy rains. More rains are forecast for some parts of northern and central regions on Thursday as a cold spell is moving from southern China to Vietnam, the disaster agency said. Also, adding another tropical depression was expected to hit the Philippines on Thursday evening and could strengthen to a tropical storm when it moves to the South China Sea.

Agriculture Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong was quoted as telling a government emergency meeting on Wednesday that it was the first time in a decade that northern and central regions suffered such a big volume of rains in a short period of time. Rains of up to 50cm were reported over the three-day period until Wednesday in some parts of central and northern regions. Vietnam is prone to floods and storms which kill hundreds of people each year. — Agencies.