Flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday in Vietnam’s northern Lai Chau province have left three local people dead and three others missing, and injured five people, the provincial authorities said on Sunday.
The floods also swept away a bridge in Than Uyen district, and damaged two irrigation works in Muong Te district and big areas of crops in Lai Chau, causing property losses of hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars.
Vietnam hit with floods and landslides with at least 3 dead | Image source: Facebook
In the first five months of this year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed 13 local people, injured 21 others, destroyed or damaged nearly 11,000 houses, damaged 6,100 hectares of rice and other crops, and killed 8,200 cattle and 3,500 poultry, leaving property losses of over 544 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 24 million U.S. dollars), according to the country’s General Statistics Office.
Sapa, Lao Cai province of Vietnam | Image source: Wikipedia
Northwest (Tây Bắc) is one of the regions of Vietnam, located in the mountainous northwestern part of the country. It consists of four provinces: Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Son La, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai and Yen Bai. Among which, Sapa – a small town in Lao Cai provice is popular trekking base, it overlooks the terraced rice fields of the Muong Hoa Valley, and is near the 3,143m-tall Phang Xi Pang peak, which is climbable via a steep, multiday guided walk. Hill tribes, such as the Hmong, Tay and Dao, make up much of the town’s local population.