6 dead, 7 missing in heavily flooded central Vietnam

The flood, which was caused by torrential rains and rising rivers, is as an aftermath of the depression that hit these regions on Friday morning.

Among the dead victims are two female teachers who reportedly died after being swept by floodwater in Khang District, the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, on Friday. Locals have found the body of one of the two women.

Similarly, another woman, 38, in Dak Nen District, Kon Tum Province, died after being drifted by floodwater while she was working on a field on Friday morning. Her body has been recovered.

The same day also saw two students die in central Quang Ngai Province. One of them, a grade 5 schoolgirl was thrown into a river by violent winds while he was crossing a bridge in Hanh Minh Commune, while the other, a 12-year-old boy, was drowned in a hole filled up with rainwater in Nghia Phuong Commune.

Meanwhile, seven people have been reported missing in several provinces and cities including Quang Ngai, Quy Nhon, Phu Yen, and Khanh Hoa.

Isolation, evacuation

Rivers in the region from Thua Thien-Hue to Ninh Thuan and the northern Central Highlands have been rising rapidly since yesterday morning, with many of them has reached over alarm level 3 (1.5 meters).

In Gia Lai, the water level of the Ba River last night was 2.39 meters higher than alarm level 3 and 0.41 meter higher than the record high 32 years ago, local authorities reported.

Together with heavy rains, the water from rising rivers has submerged many central provinces under 0,3-1 meter of water and isolated some of them, including Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh Province.

Many districts in the city were seriously inundated, so thousands of residents had to be evacuated for safety reasons.

The flood also caused blocked National Highway 19 that runs through Quy Nhon, causing prolonged traffic congestion yesterday.

Meanwhile, landslides occurred on the An Khe Pass and some sections of the railways have been blocked.
In Phu Yen Province, local authorities have banned all boats from  going to sea starting Friday after two fishermen were reported missing while they were catching lobsters.

Meanwhile, a rockslide occurred in Dong Hoa District on Friday morning and derailed a train that departed from Hanoi. Large rocks caused damage to 65 meters of the railway and it took railway technicians eight hours to repair.

In Quang Ngai, hundreds of houses and many areas were heavily flooded, and three communes in Ba To District have been isolated by floodwater, affecting the life of thousands of people.

Meanwhile, Hue City was submerged under 0.3-0,5 meter of water, even up to 1 meter in some areas. The flood blocked many routes, causing prolonged traffic congestion  

In the heavily flooded ancient town of Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, many residents had to use small boats to travel on streets.

The same serious flooding was recorded in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.