QUẢNG NINH — Two people died due to the heavy rainfall which drenched much of the northern province of Quảng Ninh yesterday and this morning.

This was announced by the provincial Office of the Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and search and rescue teams.

The victims inlcuded Trần Văn Thanh, 52, living in Hồng Gai Ward, who was killed when a section of the embankment collapsed over him in his house’s kitchen.

The other victim was Hoàng Thị Khà, 56, who was swept into the sewage system by flood waters in Giếng Đáy Ward.

Khà was hospitalised immediately at the Bãi Cháy Hospital but died at 1.30am this morning.

According to reports in the local newspaper, heavy rainfall has damaged the irrigation canal in Tiên Yên Ward.

Several roads in Cẩm Phả City and households in Cẩm Thạch, Cẩm Phú and Cẩm Trung are flooded.

Many wards in Hạ Long City are also covered in deep water due to the heavy rainfall yesterday and this morning.

Several households in Hạ Long and Cẩm Phả cities are covered with mud.

The newspaper reported that some households were covered in 2m-deep water, causing their furniture to rot.

The floods triggered by heavy rains have affected the movement of vehicles in some areas in the region, such as the Bãi Cháy tourism site, the Cái Lân industrial zone and Bạch Đằng Ward, and have also led to landslides in the Bãi Cháy and Hồng Gai wards.

At 1am this morning, the water level dropped and traffic returned to normal.

Nearly 100 households in Hạ Long and Cẩm Phả cities have been evacuated to safe places.

Nguyễn Đức Long, chairman of the People’s Committee, inspected some flooded areas in Hạ Long City.

The chairman asked the heads of some construction projects to stop their work and instead help drain water in the flooded areas.

Long also visited and provided solace to the families of victims, who were killed in the heavy rain yesterday.

The provincial authorities have sent an urgent message to local authorities to implement urgent measures to deal with the aftermath of the heavy rains, landslides and floods.

The provincial Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting Centre has forecast that torrential rainfall will continue for some hours.

Many local residents complained of inadequate construction planning of the city and a poor drainage system that did not match urban development

This was the reason for the floods in Hạ Long City following the heavy downpour.

Last August, unprecedented heavy rainfall in the province claimed 17 lives and caused nearly VNĐ3 trillion (US$136.3 million) in damage. — VNS