Toll in Vietnam's Mekong Delta flooding rises to 43

Oct 13, 2011, 4:26 GMT

Hanoi - The worst flooding in Vietnam in more than a decade has killed nine more people, bringing the death toll over the past three weeks in the Mekong Delta to 43, authorities said Thursday.

The nine died Wednesday in floodwaters that have inundated 70,000 homes and destroyed nearly 1,500 during the monsoon season in southern Vietnam, the National Steering Committee for Storm Prevention and Flood Control said.

More than 24,000 hectares of rice fields have been submerged and more than 11,000 hectares of fruit trees destroyed, the committee reported.

Thirty-one of the 43 victims were children, it said.

Waters at their highest levels since 2000 have flooded 699 schools and 1,200 kilometres of roads.

In the Central Highlands, floods caused by heavy rains also killed four people, including a 15-year-old girl who was swept away while fishing, and submerged nearly 4,000 hectares of rice.

The committee said losses were estimated at 56 million dollars, up 10 million dollars from its report Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited flooded areas Wednesday and urged provinces to improve dyke systems to protect people and rice fields.

Hundreds of people have been killed across South and South-East Asia, China and Japan in the past four months from monsoon flooding, typhoons and storms.