HANOI: Floods and landslides after a tropical depression have killed at least 37 people and damaged homes and crops in northern and central Vietnam.
The Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement Thursday that another 40 people are missing.
Another 21 people were injured after rains caused landslides and flooding, prompting authorities to discharge water from dams, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said on its website.
More than 17,000 households have been evacuated and more than 200 homes have collapsed, while nearly 18,000 other houses were submerged or damaged.
The committee said more than 8,000 hectares of land used for growing rice crops were damaged and around 40,000 animals were killed or washed away.
Vietnam often suffers from destructive storms and floods due to its long coastline. More than 200 people were killed in storms last year.In the hardest-hit northern province of Hoa Binh, 11 people died and 21 others were missing. The casualties include four families whose houses were buried in a landslide, killing six and leaving another 12 missing, disaster official Quach Viet Hoang said.
The tropical depression hit central Vietnam on Tuesday and brought heavy rains.
(Video YouTube/Cities of the World)