Vietnam rushes aid to flood victims, 74 have died

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam rushed more food aid and donations on Monday to victims in the central region, where 74 people have died from floods, as north-south train service resumed, officials said on Monday.

On Sunday, the government ordered 3,000 tonnes of rice from state warehouses be sent to the hardest-hit provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, where 44 people had died in floods since early this month.

Three school girls drowned on Saturday in Ha Tinh while tending their buffaloes and cows, bringing the province's death toll to 29, a government disaster report said.

In the neighbouring province of Quang Binh where 15 people had died, work to repair the north-south railway was completed on Sunday and trains resumed operation, allowing more food and medical aid be sent to the flood-stricken region.

Officials said that along with food, clean water was a priority for flood victims now, because water supplies have been polluted with mud, garbage and the carcasses of dead livestock.

The government has not released estimates of economic losses in the disaster-prone central region, but preliminary figures suggested floods from a storm since the start of August have damaged property worth 1.5 trillion dong ($93 million).

The central region is not a key rice growing area.

In the southern region, seasonal flooding in the Mekong delta is forecast to reach near the first dangerous level on Friday, the government report said.

Storms and typhoons often strike Vietnam from August to October. Last year, 10 storms hit the country and about 500 people were killed by floods and landslides, the government said.