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The death toll in widespread flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Southeast Asia mounted on Monday with another person reported killed in Vietnam, and five others in Thailand with tens of thousands of people displaced. The total number of confirmed dead in Vietnam is now 91, with 11 others missing as the heavy rain that began a week ago has caused severe flooding and triggered landslides from Quang Tri to Lam Dong provinces, a stretch of 800 kilometers along the country's central region, including the highlands. In Dak Lak, the worst hit province, 63 people were killed, mostly due to drowning. Other fatalities were from Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Danang, Hue and Quang Tri provinces. With roads washed out in many areas, helicopters have been deployed to drop food and aid supplies and to assist in evacuating people. After a break in the rain on the weekend, Pham Thu Huyen was one of many hundreds of residents and visitors who helped clean up debris washed ashore in Nha
India and Vietnam on Monday inked a pact to set up a framework for submarine search, rescue and support mechanism in case of any eventualities. The two sides also signed a letter of intent (LoI) to strengthen bilateral defence industry collaboration. The documents were signed after the two sides held the 15th edition of India-Vietnam Defence Policy Dialogue (DPD) in Hanoi. It was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Deputy Minister of National Defence Senior Lt Gen Hoang Xuan Chien. Both sides expressed satisfaction on progress made in the areas of hydrography cooperation, capacity building and training and ship visits, and cooperation in niche domains namely AI and shipyard upgradation, the defence ministry said. They also decided to expand and further deepen cooperation in important emerging areas like cyber security and real-time exchange of information, it said. The two sides also exchanged views on the regional security situation. A Memorandum of Agreement
Typhoon Kalmaegi brought fierce winds and torrential rains to Vietnam on Friday, killing at least five people, flattening homes, blowing off roofs and uprooting trees. In the Philippines, where the storm left at least 204 dead earlier in the week, survivors wept over the coffins of their loved ones and braced for another typhoon. As the storm moved on, recovery work began in battered towns and villages in both countries. Across central Vietnamese provinces, people cleared debris and repaired roofs on their homes. Jimmy Abatayo, who lost his wife and nine close relatives after the typhoon unleashed flooding in the central Philippine province of Cebu, was overwhelmed with sorrow and guilt as he ran his palm over his wife's casket. I was able to swim. I told my family to swim, you will be saved, just swim, be brave and keep swimming, said Abatayo, 53, pausing and then breaking into tears. They did not hear what I said because I would never see them again. Mourning the dead in the ...
Lingering heavy rains from a former typhoon caused more flooding and landslides in Vietnam, raising the death toll to 19 in the country with more missing. Rainfall topped 30 centimetres in parts of Vietnam over the past 24 hours, the national weather agency said Tuesday. It warned that heavy downpours would continue. The prolonged rain triggered flash floods and landslides that cut off roads and isolated communities from the northern mountains of Son La and Lao Cai provinces to central Nghe An province. Rivers swollen by downpours and dam discharges have caused widespread flooding and landslides in the north. The Thao River in Yen Bai rose well above emergency levels overnight, sending water up to a metre deep into homes and forcing evacuations. Many streets in the capital, Hanoi, were flooded and authorities warned that people close to the Red River, which passes through the city, should take precautions. State media said Tuesday that authorities were still searching for 13 missi
Vietnam evacuated thousands of people from its central and northern provinces Sunday as Typhoon Bualoi raced toward the country faster than expected and made landfall in the early hours of Monday. The storm came ashore in northern coastal province Ha Tinh and forecasters said it would move inland before weakening as it pushed northwest toward the hilly regions of Ha Tinh and neighbouring Nghe An. Bualoi has left at least 20 people dead in the central Philippines since Friday, mostly from drownings and falling trees, and knocked out power in several towns and cities, officials said. It forced about 23,000 families to evacuate to more than 1,400 emergency shelters. In Vietnam, the typhoon was expected to bring winds of up to 133 kph (83 mph), storm surges of more than a meter (3.2 feet) and heavy rains that could trigger flash floods and landslides. State media reported that more than 347,000 families had lost power because of the storm. Strong gusts ripped off corrugated iron roofs