Storm deaths rise to 59 as typhoon Yagi ravages Vietnam

A bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding Monday as more rain fell on northern Vietnam from a former typhoon that has caused at least 59 deaths in the Southeast Asian country, state media reported.

Nine people died during the typhoon, which made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday before weakening into a depression, and 50 others were killed during the consequent floods and landslides. The water levels of several rivers in northern Vietnam were dangerously high.

A passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province Monday morning. Rescuers were deployed but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place.

In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed Monday morning.

Reports said 10 cars and trucks, along with two motorbikes, fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to the hospital, but 13 others were missing.

Yagi — the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam in decades — made landfall on Saturday with winds of up to 149 kilometres per hour.

It weakened to a tropical depression the following day, but the country’s meteorological agency still warned the continuing downpours could cause floods and landslides.

On Sunday, a landslide killed six people, including an infant, and injured nine others in Sa Pa town, a popular trekking base known for its terraced rice fields and mountains. State media reported 21 deaths and at least 299 people were injured from the weekend.

Skies were overcast in the capital, Hanoi, with occasional rain Monday morning as workers cleared the uprooted trees, fallen billboards and toppled electricity poles.

Heavy rain continued in northwest Vietnam, and forecasters said it could exceed 40 centimetres in some places.

Initially, at least three million people were left without electricity in Quang Ninh and Haiphong provinces, and it's unclear how much has been restored.

The two provinces are industrial hubs, housing many factories that export goods, including EV maker VinFast and Apple suppliers Pegatrong and USI. Factory workers said on Sunday that many industrial