Vietnam’s death toll from Typhoon Durian rose to 59 people today as authorities began cleaning up Vietnam’s southern coast where more than 120,000 houses were destroyed.

THE typhoon that ravaged the Philippines with landslides and torrential rain slammed into Vietnam’s southern coast yesterday as a tropical storm, killing at least 50 people and destroying thousands of homes.

Tropical Storm Durian has slammed into Vietnam’s southern coast, killing at least 47 people, injuring more than 300 and destroying thousands of houses, officials said today.