Floods and landslides kill 54 in Vietnam, 39 missing

Hanoi : Floods and landslides have killed at least 54 people in Vietnam and left another 39 missing since a tropical depression hit the country earlier this week, in one of its worst natural disasters in years, officials said.

The heavy rain in the central and northern regions disrupted transportation in some areas, hampering efforts to rescue the missing.

The storm, which hit central Vietnam on Tuesday, also injured 31 people, submerged more than 30,000 houses, and damaged infrastructure and crops, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement Friday.

Disaster official Nguyen Thi Lien from northern Yen Bai province said 580 soldiers and police and more than 2,000 residents have been mobilized to search for 16 others still missing in the province.