Flood death toll in the central provinces has risen to 66, including 14 passengers in a bus that was swept away by flood waters in Ha Tinh Province on Monday, according to the Central Committee for Flood Prevention and Control.
Ha Tinh has reported the worst toll with 32, Nghe An, 20, Quang Binh, nine, and Thanh Hoa, five.
Forty-four people were injured and eight are still missing, said the committee.
On Thursday, rescuers recovered the bodies of 14 passengers drowned when the bus carrying 38 people was swept away by strong currents at the foot of a bridge in Ha Tinh’s Nghi Xuan District.
Local authorities said 18 people managed to get out by breaking the front windows and swam ashore, some by clinging to power poles.
The public transport bus was traveling from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong to the northern Nam Dinh Province when it was swept away.
The remaining passengers are presumed dead, police said, though the search for them has not been called off yet.
Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that more than 47,000 ha of rice and subsidiary crops have been submerged and thousands of tons of rice destroyed.
The floods also swept away about 74,000 cattle and fowls. Nghe An is the worst-hit area with more than 29,000 ha of crops under water.
