Vietnam landslide hits army barracks and kills 14
A landslide in central Vietnam has killed at least 14 military personnel and left more missing, the government has said.
A search is under way to find 11 soldiers whose barracks were buried by a huge landslide as the country battles its worst floods for years. The incident is said to be Vietnam’s largest military loss during peace time.
The mudslide hit the barracks of a unit of Vietnam's 4th Military Region early on Sunday in the central province of Quang Tri, according to the government’s website.
Another landslide, in the neighbouring province of Thua Thien Hue, killed 13 people earlier this week.
Heavy rainfall has hit much of Vietnam in the past week. Floods and landslides have killed at least 70 people – more heavy rain is expected over the next few days.
There are fears floodwaters could rise even more in the coming days.
One official told the BBC he heard landslides "exploding like bombs" in the night.
"We had another sleepless night," a deputy defence minister, Phan Van Giang, told reporters on Sunday.
The government announced on Facebook that the country had “never lost so many military members, including two generals and high ranking officials, in natural disasters”.
According to local media, rivers in Quang Tri rose to the highest levels in more than 20 years, inundating more than 40,000 houses in the province and killing dozens of people.
In Thua Thien Hue, rescuers battled driving rain while searching for at least 15 construction workers missing after a landslide at the start of the week in a mountainous area.
Around 600mm of rainfall is expected to continue in parts of central Vietnam until Wednesday, the country's weather agency said.
Additional reporting by agencies
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