Dozens killed in Vietnam floods

Floods and landslides have killed at least 40 people in Vietnam.

Floods and landslides have killed at least 40 people in Vietnam.

The floods, sparked by torrential rains submerged 170,000 houses in five provinces and destroyed roads, cutting food relief to many areas.

Thousands of people have fled their homes and an official said today that 270,000 people in just one of the affected provinces needed urgent help.

Officials said they had not been able to get relief supplies though to the mountainous district of Tay Tra, in Quang Ngai province, for four days due to landslides.

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"We tried, but the road is blocked. Helicopters can not land," said a provincial official, who added that more landslides were feared.

Scores of low, tile-roofed houses in the town of Hoi An in central Vietnam, declared a world heritage site in 1999 by the United Nations, appeared ready to collapse, state media quoted a local official as saying.

More than 500 houses in the 16th-century trading centre had been submerged in waters up to 2 metres deep.