Flood death toll rises to 90

The death toll from severe flooding in Vietnam has risen to 90, with 12 people still missing, the environment ministry said yesterday, after days of heavy rain and landslides.

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Relentless rain has pounded south-central Vietnam since late October, with several popular tourist destinations inundated by repeated rounds of flooding. Parts of the coastal city of Nha Trang were submerged last week, while fatal landslides struck highland routes around the Da Lat tourist hub.

In Dak Lak, one of the worst-hit mountainous provinces, 61-year-old farmer Mach Van Si said floodwaters left him and his wife stranded on their sheet-metal roof for two nights.

“Our neighbourhood was completely destroyed. Nothing was left. Everything was covered in mud,” he told AFP yesterday.