Flood death toll in Vietnam reaches 55

Oct 18, 2011, 4:04 GMT

Hanoi - Floods have killed five people in central Vietnam this week, bringing the country's death toll over three weeks to 55, authorities said Tuesday.

The fatalities on Monday pushed up total deaths from floods to seven in central regions and 48 in the Mekong Delta, the National Steering Committee for Storm Prevention and Flood Control said.

An additional four were missing and 14 injured in central provinces.

Across the country water has inundated nearly 170,000 houses and submerged nearly 23,700 hectares of rice fields, the committee said.

The worst of the damage was in the central province of Quang Binh where thousands of homes were under 1-2 metres of water. Authorities evacuated 7,200 people.

Floods caused by heavy rain also destroyed parts of National Highway Number 1, which runs from north to south Vietnam, causing severe congestion. At least five trains with 2,000 passengers were left stranded in the central province of Quang Tri.

The worst floods in the Mekong Delta for over a decade have forced nearly 235,000 students in the Mekong Delta to stay at home while schools are closed.

The committee said losses were estimated at 70 million dollars, up 15 million dollars from its report Saturday.

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.