Flash Floods, Landslides In Vietnam's Dien Bien Leave 10 Dead Or Missing

DIEN BIEN (Vietnam), Aug 1 (Bernama-VNA) -- Torrential rains from the night of Thursday (July 31) to early Friday triggered flash floods and landslides across several communes in Dien Bien province, leaving at least two people dead and eight others missing, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

Many villages have been isolated, with hundreds of households urgently evacuated. Several national and provincial roads have been severely damaged, paralysing traffic in the area.

Police chief of Xa Dung commune, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Hai Trung, reported multiple landslides across the locality. As of 7 am, seven people had been reported missing, mostly due to landslides burying homes.

In Tia Dinh commune, heavy rainfall caused landslides along several roads linking its centre with villages, cutting off access. A landslide in Tia Dinh village buried a home, killing two children.

In Muong Luan commune, local authorities are mobilising all available forces to urgently evacuate residents and move property to safer locations.

Meanwhile, in Na Son commune, flash floods hit multiple villages on the morning of Aug 1, leaving many areas submerged and completely isolated.

The heavy rainfall has also rendered several national and provincial highways impassable due to serious landslides.

According to the provincial hydro-meteorological station, moderate to heavy rains have persisted across the province over the past 12 hours, with some areas experiencing very heavy rainfall.

Scattered showers are expected to continue, with accumulated rainfall ranging from 20-30 millimetres (mm), and some areas exceeding 70mm.

-- BERNAMA-VNA