At least four people lost their lives and four more remain missing after a fast-moving flash flood devastated a mountain village in Vietnam’s northern Lai Chau province, according to state media reports released Saturday.
The flood struck Muong Than village in the early morning hours of Friday, following several days of relentless heavy rain across multiple areas of northern Vietnam. Seven people were also reported injured in the disaster, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
Images published by the Vietnam News Agency showed thick red mud and floodwaters covering the village, with boulders and wooden logs heaped along a heavily damaged roadway.
Vietnam regularly faces deadly storms and flooding during its rainy season, which is most intense between July and September. Government figures show that natural disasters — the majority of them floods — claimed 489 lives across the country last year.
Since Wednesday, a combination of landslides and flash floods triggered by the ongoing heavy rainfall has caused widespread damage throughout the region. Roads, power infrastructure, and hundreds of homes have been affected, and approximately 238 hectares of crops have been submerged, according to the country’s disaster management agency.
Forecasters are warning that parts of northern Vietnam could receive rainfall totals reaching up to 250 millimeters on Saturday alone, raising the threat of additional flash floods and landslides in the coming hours.
