Vietnam death toll rises to 59 in Typhoon Yagi aftermath, as bridge collapses and floods sweep bus away

CNN —

A bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding Monday as more rain fell following a typhoon in Vietnam, causing at least 59 deaths, and disrupting businesses and factories in the export-focused northern industrial hubs, state media reported.

Nine people died when Typhoon Yagi made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday before weakening to a tropical depression, and at least 50 others have died in the consequent floods and landslides, state media VnExpress reported. 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 their path.

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.

Pham Truong Son, 50, told VnExpress that he was driving on the bridge on his motorcycle when he heard a loud noise. Before he knew what was happening, he was falling into the river. “I felt like I was drowned to the bottom of the river,” Son told the newspaper, adding that he managed to swim and hold on to a drifting banana tree to stay afloat before he was rescued.

A flooded street in Trang Dinh district, Lang Son province, on September 9, 2024, after Typhoon Yagi swept through the country's north. A man rides his motorbike past fallen trees on September 8, 2024 after Typhoon Yagi hit Hanoi.

Dozens of businesses in Haiphong province hadn’t resumed production by Monday because of the