New floods kill 21 in Vietnam, nationwide death toll nears 100

Hanoi (dpa) - Flash floods and mudslides killed 21 people over the weekend in central Vietnam and rising waters further south claimed more victims, state media and officials said Sunday.

The nationwide death toll now stands at 88, with more rain forecast in the coming weeks.

Army and police forces were mobilised for rescue efforts in central Ha Tinh province, 350 kilometres south of Hanoi, after torrential rains caused the drowning deaths of 21 people, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

At least 18 bridges were swept away, and several segments of the main highway into the province were damaged.

Authorities were concentrating on reinforcing the La River dike and evacuating residents downstream.

In the southern Mekong Delta, the death toll from more than a month of flooding has risen to 67, with all but seven of the victims children, local officials said by telephone.

In the past five years, more than 1,100 Vietnamese children have died in the annual flooding in the Mekong Delta, according to the Central Steering Committee on Flood and Storm Control.

This year, authorities set up child-care centres to try to prevent the drowning of children, but officials said the prolonged floods have worn many people out and made them less alert.

More than 100,000 families face food shortages after being forced to flee their homes. At least 50,000 houses were submerged in southern Vietnam.

dpa kj wp AP-NY-09-22-02 0339EDT

Copyright (c) 2002 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 09/22/2002 03:39:18