Flash floods, landslides kill eight in northern Vietnam

HANOI, VIETNAM — Flash floods and landslides have killed at least eight people across northern Vietnam, disaster officials said Monday.

After months of prolonged heatwaves and drought, heavy downpours that began at the beginning of August have damaged hundreds of homes and destroyed crops.

Eight people, including at least two children, were killed last week across the northern mountainous provinces of Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Son La and Thai Nguyen, the Hanoi-based disaster control authority said in an online report.

State media published pictures of houses collapsing into muddy water and roads blocked or split by soil and fallen trees.

Access to some mountainous ethnic communities has been cut off.

Landslides have also hit central parts of the country.

In the town of Dalat in the Central Highlands, three policemen and one civilian were killed when a police station was buried by falling soil in July.

The Central Highlands and southern Vietnam have seen 5-10 per cent more rain than usual since the rainy season began in May, according to authorities.

In northern Vietnam, record-high temperatures and an unprecedented drought in May and June caused rolling blackouts and sudden power outages leading to serious losses among local firms and foreign manufacturers.

Crops were also badly affected.

Last year, natural disasters killed 175 people in Vietnam.

Scientists have warned extreme weather is being intensified by global warming.

— AFP