Heavy rain swept central Vietnam on Monday, triggering landslides and floods, killing at least seven, injuring dozens and stranding thousands.
The deluges have wreaked widespread destruction across a region already battered weeks ago by floods from record rainfall and the powerful typhoon Kalmaegi.
Rainfall through Wednesday is expected to reach 30–60 centimeters (12–24 inches) in parts of central Vietnam, with some areas likely to exceed 85 centimeters (33 inches).
Landslide causes bus crash
The hard-hit province of Khanh Hoa, a coastal region with hilly inland terrain, recorded one of its heaviest rainfall in years on Sunday night when earth and rocks collapsed on a bus traveling through the Khanh Le pass in the central highlands, state media reported.
The landslide crushed the front of the bus at around 9.30 p.m. local time, killing six people and trapping many passengers. Rescuers struggled for hours to reach the scene as heavy rain had also caused landslides on both sides of the pass, cutting off access. Rescue teams were only able to reach the bus after midnight, according to state media.
“Rocks and soil fell down with a loud bang. I was thrown on the roof of the bus before falling down,” Nguyen Long Cuong, the 39-year-old bus conductor, told state media VN Express.
