3 Oct 2009

Ketsana toll rises in Vietnam

10:43 pm on 3 October 2009

The official death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Ketsana has risen to at least 107, bringing the total number of casualties in several countries to 441.

The National Flood and Storm Control Committee in Hanoi says 28 people are also listed as missing.

The heaviest toll came in the central Vietnam fishing province of Quang Ngai, south of Danang, and in Kon Tum, a mountainous province with a large population of poor ethnic minority tribes.

Initial estimates of the damage in Vietnam shot up to around $820m.

Flood waters have been receding in much of the stricken region, leaving residents cleaning up the mess and tallying the damage to their farms and homes.

Ketsana has brought devastation across Southeast Asia, first killing at least 293 people in the Philippines, 17 in Cambodia and 24 in Laos.