11 dead due to landslide in Vietnam

Hanoi, July 14 (IANS) At least 11 people on board a minibus died after being buried by a landslide in Vietnam’s northern province of Ha Giang while four others were critically injured, according to the latest update by the stste media reports.

When the vehicle was trapped by a landslide on a road in Bac Me district, all the people on board got out for help. The minibus was reportedly carrying around 16 people.

Thousands of cubic metres of soil from above poured onto the road, burying all the people, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, rainfall in the area where the accident happened early Saturday morning was recorded at 280-290 mm from 7 p.m. on Friday until 7 a.m. on Saturday.

Natural disasters in Vietnam left 68 people dead or missing and injured 56 others in the first six months of this year, said the General Statistics Office.

The total property losses incurred were more than 1.7 trillion Vietnamese dong ($66.9 million), which was 2.5 times higher than the same period last year.

–IANS

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