The total number of fatalities and missing persons due to typhoon Yagi and subsequent floods and landslides in northern Vietnam has decreased from 348 (reported in the morning of September 15) to 330, with 292 deaths and 38 missing persons.

The decrease is due to 18 missing people who turned up alive in two serious incidents in the two northern mountainous provinces of Lao Cai and Cao Bang.

According to updates from the Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the mountainous province Lao Cai remains the hardest-hit locality, with 151 people dead or missing.

Bao Yen District is the most severely affected area in Lao Cai, with 82 dead or missing from a disastrous flash flood that wiped out part of Lang Nu hamlet with 128 residents of 37 households on September 10 morning.

Next is Cao Bang with 57, Yen Bai with 54, and Quang Ninh with 25 dead or missing. Other provinces and cities such as Hai Phong, Ha Noi, H0a Binh, and Bac Giang also reported deaths due to floods and landslides.

Phu Tho province reported a serious incident where the collapse of Phong Chau Bridge on September 9 morning left 1 dead and 7 missing. The body of the first victim, a 48-year-old woman, was just found on Saturday, at a location that is 10km away from the bridge.

Material damages from the typhoon and its aftermath were estimated roughly at US$1.6 billion and set to increase in the future, according to the assessment from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Asia News Network (ANN)/Vietnam News