Tropical Storm Kills 34 In Vietnam

Wednesday, August 8th 2007, 4:46 am

By: News On 6

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) _ At least 34 people have died and 17 more were missing and feared dead after a tropical lashed Vietnam, officials said Wednesday as downpours continued across central provinces.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Pabuk triggered landslides that killed at least 11 people in the Philippines this week before blowing across southern Taiwan's tip Wednesday.

Vietnam's central province of Ha Tinh province suffered the worst with 13 deaths, of those six were children. Another victim was reported missing said Trinh Nhu Tien, a provincial disaster official.

``It is still raining heavily in the mountains. The death toll could rise if the weather does not improve in the next few days,'' the official said, adding that several parts of the province were still isolated with no electricity and telephone links.

The bodies of four more drowning victims were recovered Tuesday in Daklak, increasing the Central Highland province death toll to 11, while nine others swept away in the floods remained missing, said provincial official Phan Thi Thu Hien.

In Lam Dong province, flash floods killed at least four people while a 13-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree, provincial official Duong Thanh Hung said.

Four people also died in Nghe An, Phu Yen and Gia Lai.

A rescue worker in Quang Binh was killed yesterday while he was trying to help people to escape from the deep water. Five others were missing and feared dead, said Nguyen Ngoc Giai, a provincial disaster official.

Floods continued to isolate three districts, but casualties were expected because the floodwaters were ``very very deep'', Giai said.

``This is the worst flood I have seen in my life. We have had to mobilize hundreds of military and police officers for rescue efforts, food and medicine relief,'' he said.

The tropical storm was downgraded to a depression on Monday, but heavy rains continued, the national weather center said.

Pabuk bolstered monsoon rains across the Philippines, causing a landslide that buried seven houses and killed at least 10 people Monday in the southern gold mining town of Maco in Compostela Valley province, according to Glenn Rabonza, administrator of the government's Office of Civil Defense.

At least 80 residents were evacuated from their homes due to fears of more landslides in the hilly area, Rabonza said.

Pabuk, along with a new storm brewing off the country's northeast coast, brought more rains overnight, triggering another landslide that buried a house and killed a 9-year-old boy in the northern mountain resort city of Baguio at dawn Wednesday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

Heavy rains flooded many Manila streets, forcing schools to close and stranding commuters, officials said.