Days after landfall, Typhoon Yagi continues to devastate Vietnam leaving around 200 dead

Hanoi, Vietnam AP —

Nearly 200 people have died in Vietnam in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi and more than 125 are missing as flash floods and landslides take their toll, state media reported Thursday.

Vietnam’s VNExpress newspaper reported that 197 people have died and 128 are still missing, while more than 800 have been injured.

The death toll spiked earlier in the week as a flash flood swept away the entire hamlet of Lang Nu in northern Vietnam’s Lao Cai province Tuesday. Hundreds of rescue personnel worked tirelessly Wednesday to search for survivors, but as of Thursday morning 53 villagers remained missing, VNExpress reported, while seven more bodies were found, bringing the death toll there to 42.

A woman sweeps flood waters outside her home in Hanoi, Vietnam on September 12, 2024. An aerial view shows the landslide site in the remote mountainous village of Lang Nu, in Lao Cai province on September 11, 2024. A woman carries a bag of rice through flood waters on a street in Hanoi on September 11, 2024.

Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades. It made landfall Saturday with winds of up to 149 kph (92 mph). Despite weakening on Sunday, downpours continued and rivers remain dangerously high.

The heavy rains also damaged factories in export-focused northern Vietnam’s industrial hubs.