At least 37 dead in Vietnam by floods and landslides

At least 37 people have died and another 40 are missing from the floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in the last two days in several provinces of northern Vietnam, according to data released today by the government. The Central Committee for the Prevention and Control of natural disasters has indicated that the floods have also provoked 21 wounded in Hoa Binh, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Yen Bai provinces. One of the greatest tragedies occurred during the early morning of Thursday in Hoa Binh province, south of Hanoi, where an avalanche of land buried in its homes to 18 people, of which three have been rescued and at least eight have died , according to the web portal of the newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth). Bridge destroyed by the flood in northern Vietnam. VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY AFP The authorities evacuated more than 17,000 households to prevent the devastating effects of the floods, which were carried in front of 200 houses, partially flooded more than 17,000 and damaged more than 8,000 hectares of cultivation fields. Central and northern Vietnam suffer from several typhoons and tropical storms every year. Last August, the typhoon Doksuri caused the death of eight people in the center of the country. According to government statistics, tropical storms and floods killed 264 people in 2016 and caused economic damage of 1.75 billion dollars (1.475 billion euros).