Dozens dead, missing as supertyphoon Yagi tears through Vietnam

Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Vietnamese authorities were scrambling Monday to deal with the aftermath of supertyphoon Yagi which barreled across the country packing 125 mph winds at the weekend killing 59 people, injuring hundreds and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Most of those killed fell victim to landslides, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, including a family of four killed in Hoa Binh province in the mountainous northwest and six in Lao Cai province on the China border where nine people were pulled alive from beneath the slip but two remain missing.

A newborn baby and a 1-year-old boy were among those killed in the mudslide.

In Phu Tho province, northwest of the capital, Hanoi, rescuers were searching the Red River for 13 people missing after a bridge collapse plunged 10 cars and two scooters into a torrent with video circulating online showing sections still standing but part of the bridge swept completely away.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued an order Monday directing ministries, departments and localities to focus on the collapse of the Phong Chau Bridge and responding to the rain, landslides, and flash floods affecting the mountainous and lower-lying provinces of the North.

Visiting the scene of the landslide in Sa Pa town, Lao Cai, minister of Agriculture and Agricultural Development Le Minh Hoan called on local officials to be more proactive in their natural disaster prevention planning and respond with agility to weather developments in the coming days, according to a social media post by the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority.

Four people died in the northern Quang Ninh province and one Hai Duong, near Hanoi, said state media which also reported 41 fishing boats sunk or adrift with a dozen fishermen reported missing.

Search and rescue services plucked 27 people from the sea.

Almost 50,000 people have been evacuated from coastal towns with many more ordered not to venture outdoors and schools closed across 12 northern provinces, including Hanoi.

The disaster authority also said the Luc Ngan and Son Dong districts of Bac Giang province, northeast of Hanoi, were heavily flooded with many areas cut off.

With more rain forecast, authorities have warned of further flooding and landslides despite Yagi -- which made landfall on Saturday ripping off roofs, uprooting trees and cutting power across the north of the country including in Hanoi -- being downgraded to a tropical depression.

U.S.-ASEAN Business Council member Than Vu told The Washington Post that Yagi was among the most calamitous weather events to ever hit the country and that it was unknown for the north of the country to experience such an extreme storm.

"This is the worst typhoon in probably three decades in Vietnam. For the northern part of Vietnam, we've never seen this," he said.