Two killed amid floods, rain in northern Vietnam

Heavy rains were recorded in several locations across Ha Giang and Vinh Phuc on Saturday and Sunday.

One house in Ha Giang was buried after a talus slope collapsed Sunday morning, killing a 13-year-old boy, the provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention confirmed. One factory was damaged and a three-hectare rice field flooded, it added.

In Vinh Phuc, a 33-year-old man was killed by lightning the same morning, authorities said. Rocks and rubble also came down into a National Highway 2B section passing through Tam Down Town, paralyzing traffic.

In nearby Dien Bien Province, about 1,700 cubic meters of sludge and mud flowed down to a street, jamming a section of National Highway 279 in Dien Bien District, said Pham Van Tuan, head of a local road management department under the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam. As of Monday morning, authorities were still putting up warning signs, re-routing traffic, and removing mud in the area, he added.

Mountainous areas in northern Vietnam continued to receive downpours on Monday afternoon. Provinces like Lao Cai, Son La, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, and Phu Tho might experience floods and landslides as a result, meteorologists warned.