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Landslides kill 11 in northern Vietnam

Other News Materials 29 August 2008 10:00 (UTC +04:00)

Landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 11 people, including three children, and injured four others in northern Vietnam, an official said Friday.

The landslides early Thursday morning killed three people in Hoang Xu Phi district, seven others in Vi Xuyen district and one in Xi Man district in Ha Giang province, 290 kilometres north of Hanoi, according to Vu Toan Thang of the province's disaster department, the dpa reported.

"The landslides occurred suddenly, while people were sleeping, after it had been raining for days," Thang said.

Thang said the landslides also destroyed 11 houses and several irrigation works, bridges and roads.

According to the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Center, rainfall in Ha Giang exceeded 200 millimeters on Thursday.

Floods and landslides have killed at least 169 people in Vietnam, all in northern mountainous provinces, since the beginning of this year.

Floods and landslides triggered by tropical storm Kammuri earlier this month killed more than 160 people in northern Vietnam and caused total damages of more than 112 million dollars in 11 provinces in the region.

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