Hanoi (VNA) – Up to 22 people had died and nine others gone missingdue to flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in northernmountainous provinces by 18:00 on June 27.

Lai Chau province suffered the heaviest losses in humans with 16residents being killed, followed by Ha Giang, with five dead persons and QuangNinh with one deceased victim, reported the Standing Office of the CentralSteering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

All the nine missing people were in Lai Chau province, while theprovince also reported 15 persons were injured and Son La province saw oneperson injured.

Preliminary statistics showed that floods and landslides destroyed 124houses, damaged 597 homes and submerged 1,500 others.

In addition, more than 1,200 hectares of rice and crops were inundatedor destroyed, while 46 hectares of aquaculture were damaged and 196 cattleheads and over 5,900 poultry were killed.

Traffic on many road sections in the provinces was interrupted as theywere eroded or submerged.

Total damage was estimated at 457.8 billion VND (around 19.5 millionUSD), including 122 billion VND in Ha Giang, 314 billion VND in Lai Chau andthe remainder in neighbouring provinces.

Authorities of Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Thai Nguyen, Lao Cai and Yen Baiprovinces are instructing efforts to overcome the consequences, cure theinjured people and search the missing.

They also visited and mobilized local forces to help local residents repairtheir houses and resume production in order to stabilise their lives soon.-VNA