HANOI, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Vietnam deployed hundreds of
soldiers and heavy machinery on Thursday to search for survivors
after landslides triggered by torrential rains from Typhoon
Molave, one of the strongest typhoons in the region in decades,
the government said.
The landslides, which hit remote areas in the central
province of Quang Nam a day earlier, killed 13 with 40 missing
as rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather at the tail end
of the storm, the government said.
"We can forecast the storm path or the amount of rain, but
can't predict when landslides happen," deputy Prime Minister
Trinh Dinh Dung said in a statement.
"The road is covered under deep mud and heavy rains are
still lashing the area, but rescue work has to be carried out
quickly," Dung said.
Since early October, Vietnam has been battered by storms,
heavy rains and floods which have affected over a million
people.
The government said Typhoon Molave had left millions of
people without electricity and damaged 56,000 houses.
Twenty-six fishermen also remain missing after their boats
sank when trying to return to shore on Tuesday with two navy
vessels mobilised to find them.
Molave has weakened to a tropical depression after making
landfall on Wednesday and is expected to reach Laos later on
Thursday.
Heavy rain of up to 700 millimetres (27.5 inches) will
continue in parts of central Vietnam until Saturday, Vietnam's
weather agency said.