Flooding and landslides caused by torrential rain in Vietnam have killed and left missing 40 local people from Aug. 16-20, Vietnam News Agency reported Monday.

Of the victims, 12 died in landslides in the two northern provinces of Yen Bai and Cao Bang last week.

The floods have also inundated over 9,300 houses, nearly 45,700 hectares of paddy rice, and 10,000 hectares of aquaculture ponds, causing a total property loss of hundreds of billions Vietnamese dong (dozens of millions U.S. dollars).

The Vietnamese government has urged People's Committees of cities and provinces nationwide, and relevant ministries and agencies to actively deal with aftermaths of floods and landslides. It also instructed relevant agencies to publicize exact and timely forecasts about floods and landslides to prevent human and property losses.

Source: Xinhua