More bodies found as death toll in central Vietnam landslides rises to 15

The eight were among 45 people declared missing after the landslide in the afternoon in Tra Leng Commune, Nam Tra My District.

One body was found on Wednesday, and the others were found Thursday morning, Nguyen Quoc Cuong, chairman of the Tra Leng People's Committee, said.

The other landslide occurred in Tra Van Commune in the same district, killing seven people and leaving one missing.

That left 38 people still missing in both landslides as of Thursday morning.

Rescue efforts are ongoing despite the heavy rains, landslides and disrupted traffic caused by Storm Molave, which made landfall in Quang Nam and the neighboring Quang Ngai on Wednesday.

Hundreds of soldiers and vehicles are involved in the efforts.

Access to both communes, about 45 km apart, is also difficult because of the terrain.

Molave, said to be the most powerful storm to hit Vietnam in the last two decades, uprooted many trees and damaged hundreds of houses and other structures. Some 56,000 houses had their roofs blown away.

It weakened into a tropical depression by 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Rainfall of up to 300 mm has been recorded in Quang Nam after beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday.