Rising flood waters worsen conditions in Vietnam

FLOOD water from southern China pushed up river levels in northern Vietnam yesterday, worsening inundations across a wide region that have killed at least 120 people on both sides of the border.

Flooding in northern and central Vietnam since last Friday has killed 86 people, including eight children, while 34 have died from flooding and mudslides in south-western China.

Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rice exporter, has not released any crop damage estimates in the northern delta, but the government said nearly 260,000 hectares of rice, corn, sugarcane and fruit had been submerged.