Floods kill five in central Vietnam

HANOI (Reuters) - Unseasonal floods brought by rains this week have killed at least five people in central Vietnam while 10 others remained missing, the government and state-run media said on Saturday.

Waters were now receding in main rivers in the region but three including a woman drowned in Quang Nam province and another 44-year-old man died in floods in the neighbouring province of Quang Ngai, the government said in a disaster report.

A 22-year-old man died in Binh Dinh province while nine fishermen were among the missing after their boats sank, Saturday's Thanh Nien newspaper quoted provincial disaster reports as saying.

Floods and storms often strike central Vietnam between August and November but heavy rains since Monday caused by a cold spell hit the region widely exposed to the sea and raised river waters.

The government said more than 5,000 homes were submerged and floods also inundated a combined 74,400 hectares of rice in five provinces. The affected area is not the key growing region for rice and coffee, Vietnam's main agro-products for exports.