Typhoon death toll rises to 11 in Vietnam

Typhoon Chanchu has killed four more Vietnamese fishermen, raising the typhoon-related death toll in the country to 11, Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.

The typhoon, the strongest on record in the South China Sea in May, also left 27 others missing, when it hit five Vietnamese fishing ships sheltering at an island of China, the agency quoted sources from the Border Headquarters in Vietnam's central Quang Ngai province.

Two of the ships from the province with 17 fishermen on board sank, but all of them were rescued. Rescuers found five Vietnamese people, but four of them died. They are still searching for the 27 other missing people on three ships.

The typhoon has also killed seven Vietnamese fishermen and left many others missing when it made 11 local fishing ships with hundreds of people on board sink or go missing. All of the ships are from Vietnam's central Da Nang City.

Chanchu, which means "pearl", formed in the Pacific, about 550 km east of Mindanao island in the Philippines on May 9. It hit central Philippines on Saturday, killing at least 32 people and affecting thousands of others.

Source: Xinhua