75 missing after typhoon sinks two Chinese
ships; thousands evacuated in Vietnam
Published on Sep 30, 2013
12:22 PM
Fishermen drive a boat next to fishing ships docked at a port to shelter from Typhoon Wutip in Sanya, Hainan province Sept
29, 2013. Tens of thousands of people were being evacuated from high-risk areas in central Vietnam on Monday as a
typhoon that sank at least two Chinese fishing ships neared the coast. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Tens of thousands of people were being evacuated from high-risk areas in central
Vietnam on Monday as a typhoon that sank at least two Chinese fishing ships neared the coast.
A total of 75 fishermen are missing after three vessels encountered strong winds near the Paracel Islands,
according to a statement on the website of the Hainan government in south China. Two of the vessels sank
on Sunday and contact with the third has been lost, it said.
Typhoon Wutip was expected to hit the central coast later Monday with sustained winds of up to 93 miles
(150km) per hour and gusts up to 125 mph, Vietnam's weather forecaster said. Heavy rains were expected.
Disaster official Le Tri Cong said more than 8,000 villagers in Quang Tri province's coastal areas were
evacuated to safe places as of Sunday night and 35,000 others from areas facing with serious flooding,
landslides and flash floods are being evacuated.
More than 140,000 people in four other central provinces are planned for evacuation on Monday, the
central floods and storms control committee said on its website.
Schools in five central provinces were closed and coast guards told 61,000 fishing boats with 303,000 crew
members to take shelter, the committee said.
Two government teams were dispatched to direct the preparation efforts, the committee said.
Wutip is the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam this season. The most powerful Asian tropical storm this
year was Typhoon Usagi, which caused at least 33 deaths in the Philippines and China earlier this month.
Vietnam is prone to floods and storms which kill hundreds of people and cause millions of dollars in
damage each year.
Flooding in Cambodia claims at least 30 lives
Published on Sep 30, 2013
7:16 PM
A Cambodian woman pushes a church gate with an oar to steer her wooden boat in a flooded area along the Mekong river on
Sunday, Sept 29, 2013, in Koh Phos village, Kandal province near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. At least 30 people in Cambodia
have died in recent floods caused by heavy rains and the Mekong River overflowing its banks. -- PHOTO: AP
PHNOM PENH (AP) - At least 30 people in Cambodia have died in recent floods caused by heavy rains
and the Mekong River overflowing its banks.
Keo Vy of Cambodia's disaster management committee said on Monday that the floods have forced more
than 9,000 families to flee their homes and destroyed nearly 100,000 hectares of rice fields.
He says that nearly 67,000 homes and hundreds of schools were damaged or submerged. Neighboring
Thailand and Laos are suffering similar flooding.
Police say four people, believed to be Syrian, died on Sunday night when their car drove into a flooded
pond. A survivor who was unable to speak Khmer or English pointed to Syria on a map, police said.
The government warned that the rains will continue as Typhoon Wutip headed toward neighboring
Vietnam late Monday.