Vietnam storm death toll rises after bus swept away and bridge collapses
9 September 2024, 15:34
At least 64 people have died.
A bridge has collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding as more rain fell on northern Vietnam from a former typhoon that has caused at least 64 deaths in the south-east Asian country, state media reported.
Nine people died during the typhoon, which made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday before weakening to a depression, and 50 others died during the consequent floods and landslides. The water levels of several rivers in northern Vietnam are dangerously high.
A passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province on Monday morning. Rescuers were deployed but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place.
In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed Monday morning. Reports said 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to the hospital, but 13 others were missing.
Several motorbikes and cars fell into the river, the initial reports said, adding that three people fished out of the river in ongoing rescue operations had been taken to the hospital. No casualties have yet been reported.
Typhoon Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam in decades when it made landfall Saturday with winds up to 92mph. It weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but the country’s meteorological agency has still warned the continuing downpours could cause floods and landslides.
On Sunday, a landslide killed six people including an infant and injured nine others in Sa Pa town, a popular trekking base known for its terraced rice fields and mountains.
Overall, state media reported 21 deaths and at least 299 people injured from the weekend.
Skies were overcast in the capital, Hanoi, with occasional rain Monday morning as workers cleared the uprooted trees, fallen billboards and toppled electricity poles.
Heavy rain continued in north-western Vietnam and forecasters said it could exceed 15in in places.
Initially, at least three million people were left without electricity in Quang Ninh and Haiphong provinces, and it is unclear how much has been restored.
The two provinces are industrial hubs, housing many factories that export goods including EV maker VinFast and Apple suppliers Pegatrong and USI.
Factory workers said many industrial parks were inundated and the roofs of many factories had been blown away.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Haiphong city on Sunday and approved a package of 4.62 million dollars (£3.51 million) to help the port city recover.
Yagi also damaged agricultural land, nearly 116,192 hectares where rice is mostly grown.
Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi caused at least 20 deaths in the Philippines last week and three deaths in China.
Storms like Typhoon Yagi were “getting stronger due to climate change, primarily because warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel the storms, leading to increased wind speeds and heavier rainfall,” said Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
