HANOI: Typhoon Yagi, landslides and floods it triggered have killed at least 127 people, and 54 others are missing in northern Vietnam, the disaster management agency said on Tuesday.
Most of the victims were killed in landslides and flash floods, the agency said in a report. Nearly 764 people have been injured, it added.
The typhoon made landfall on Saturday on Vietnam’s northeastern coast, devastating a large swath of industrial and residential areas and bringing heavy rains that caused floods and landslides. It had previously hit the Philippines and the southern Chinese island of Hainan.
Government officials say severe floods are expected to inundate parts of Vietnam’s north, including the capital Hanoi.
Other northern areas, including the industrial hubs of Bac Giang and Thai Nguyen which host factories of several export-oriented multinationals, are also facing severe flooding, state media reported. It was not immediately clear if the companies were affected.
Several rivers in northern Vietnam have risen to alarming levels, leaving villages and residential areas inundated, according to the disaster agency and state media.
A 30-year-old bridge over the Red River in the northern province of Phu Tho collapsed on Monday, leaving eight missing, according to a statement from the provincial People’s Committee.
Authorities have subsequently banned or limited traffic on other bridges across the river, including Chuong Duong Bridge, one of the largest in Hanoi, according to state media reports.
“Water levels on the Red River are rising rapidly,” the government said on Tuesday in a post on its Facebook account.
Using public loudspeakers commonly used to broadcast Communist propaganda in the past, officials warned residents of the capital’s riverside Long Bien district to be on alert for possible flooding and to be ready to evacuate the area.
Flood waters have already inundated villages on the outskirts of Hanoi, state broadcaster VTV reported, and authorities were already evacuating residents from there.
Evacuations were also taking place from flood-prone areas in Bac Giang province, the government said, where the typhoon and floods have caused damage estimated for now to be worth 300 billion dong ($12.1 million).
