Death toll rise in Vietnam floods

The effects of the floods are worse than initially thought, officials say

Wide-scale floods in central Vietnam have killed more people than officials originally estimated, after a tropical storm wreaked havoc in the region.

Tropical storm Mirinae killed at least 13 people in a number of provinces, although some reports suggest up to 40 perished in the floods that followed.

The hardest-hit provinces include Phu Yen, Kanah Hoa, Gia Lai and Binh Dinh.

Soldiers have been sent in to help rescue people from the estimated 2,600 households destroyed by the storm.

An official from Vietnam's national disaster committee told reporters that most of the recorded deaths were due to the floods, with Phu Yen province worst hit.

'Mass evacuations'

An estimated 338 millimetres (13 inches) of rain fell in Vietnam's central provinces, the disaster committee states.

Around 2,600 houses and 4,400 acres (1,800 hectares) of farmland have been destroyed, it believes.

Vietnam says more than 50,000 people were evacuated from coastal regions before the storm hit on Monday night.

State television showed pictures of people stuck on roofs of houses, and rescuers attempting to take children and the elderly to safety.

Helicopters loaded with emergency food supplies have been dispatched to isolated villages, and to rescue the most vulnerable, the government says.

Over the weekend Mirinae - which was then at Typhoon strength - crossed over the northern Philippines, which is still reeling after being hit by unrelenting bad weather in recent months.