Several dead in Vietnam storm

August 25, 2010

A tropical storm has struck Vietnam, killing four people and leaving another ten people missing.

Tropical storm Mindulle hit north-central Vietnam on Tuesday, also injuring a further 20 people and causing tens of thousands of people to be evacuated from vulnerable costal villages, the national floods and storms control committee said.

The missing people are members of a fishing boat crew that disappeared when searching for a safe haven, a disaster official in central Danang City said on Wednesday.

Rescue workers are searching for the crew.

Evacuation

An estimated 74,000 people residing in high-risk coastal areas were evacuated before the storm hit, Nguyen Huu Nhung of Nghe An, a disaster official in Vinh, the Nghe province capital, said.

Officials in Ha Tinh province, south of Nghe An, said more than 14,000 people had been evacuated from coastal villages.

In total 4,000 homes have been damaged and 62,000 hectares of rice fields had been flooded, according to the government.

Mindulle blew roofs from buildings, and knocked down trees in Vinh.

The storm caused the damage after strengthening over the South China Sea, reaching winds of 117km per hour.

Meteorologists said Mindulle would dissipate later on Wednesday, and it has been downgraded to a low depression.

The third tropical storm of the year made landfall Tuesday afternoon in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces.

Several dead in Vietnam storm - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

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