HANOI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Floods triggered by torrential rain in Vietnam's northern region have killed seven people, left one missing and injured five others from Monday to Wednesday, the country's Central Steering Committee for National Disaster Prevention and Control said Thursday.
Among the seven fatalities, four were in Thai Nguyen province and three in Tuyen Quang province; among the five injured people, four were in Bac Kan province and one in Thai Nguyen; and the person still listed as missing was from Bac Kan.
The floods have also damaged 85 houses, two bridges and 1,708 hectares of rice and other crops, and caused landslides on some major roads in the five northern provinces, the committee said.
Between January and August, natural disasters in Vietnam, mainly typhoons, flash floods, whirlwinds and landslides have left 75 people dead or missing, injured 77 others, destroyed 685 houses, damaged over 19,000 other houses and 36,800 hectares of rice and other crops, causing economic losses of 2,200 billion Vietnamese dong (95.6 million U.S. dollars), according to the General Statistics Office.
Vietnam is one of the countries most affected by natural disasters and climate change, according to the United Nations Development Program. It faces six or seven typhoons every year on average.
