Three killed, eight missing amid northern Vietnam floods

Hoa Binh Province reported three deaths: Dinh Thi Nguyet, 35, Ha Tam Uyen, 4, and Nguyen Minh Hieu, 10, who were swept away by floodwaters and their bodies were found later.

The eight missing were also swept away by floods but have not been found. Two of them were in Hoa Binh, one in Phu Tho, two in Lao Cai and four in Nam Dinh Province.

The four Nam Dinh victims are a 35-year-old woman, her 8-year-old daughter and her two nieces, aged 11 and 12. They went to a river at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday. When the three children entered the river to swim, they were swept away. The woman tried to jump in to save them, only to be swept away as well.

Storm Mulan weakened into a tropical depression on Thursday morning. It then made landfall onto Quang Ninh and Hai Phong. It caused heavy rains in northern Vietnam regions, along with two central Vietnam provinces Thanh Hoa and Nghe An from Thursday to Friday.

From 7 p.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday, several northern Vietnam localities recorded rain levels of over 180 mm, such as Hoa Binh (270 mm), Vinh Phuc (240 mm) and Hanoi (220 mm).

Heavy rains inundated several areas of Hanoi and other northern provinces, paralyzing traffic on Friday morning.

Due to high levels of rainfall, erosion risks are also high, especially in mountainous regions of Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, meteorologists said.