HANOI/MANILA: Authorities in Vietnam and the Philippines braced on Tuesday for a tropical storm that could bring flooding and landslides in both countries, as the death toll in Vietnam from weeks of adverse weather rose to 105, with dozens still missing.
Rescue teams and disaster officials were on standby and preparing equipment in the Philippines, awaiting the arrival on the main island of Luzon later on Tuesday of tropical storm Saudel, which could bring heavy rains and cause mudslides.
Moderate early rains triggered some minor landslides on Tuesday, blocking several roads.
Vietnam’s weather agency is expecting Saudel to arrive in its central region on Saturday, bringing more intense rains, risking exacerbating its worst flooding in years.
Floods and mudslides during October have killed at least 105 people in central Vietnam, about a third of those soldiers, with 27 people missing, among those 15 construction workers buried under one of several deadly mudslides last week.
At least 178,000 homes, nearly 7,000 hectares (17,297 acres) of crops have been impacted and 700,000 farm animals killed, official data showed.
Vietnam’s current coffee crop harvest and bean quality should not be hurt by continuous rains, traders said, while its main rice growing region will be unaffected.
State television showed people sitting on the roofs waiting for aid from rescuers in Quang Binh province, where floods have blocked roads and cut power.
“I have not eaten since yesterday,” an elderly woman told VTV from her roof. “We have nothing, no food, no phone. Nothing.”
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) in a statement said the floods had compounded the suffering of people already struggling from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
“These floods are the last straw and will push millions of people further toward the brink of poverty,” Christopher Rassi, Director of the Office of the Secretary General.
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Philippines, Vietnam brace for tropical storm Saudel
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Philippines, Vietnam brace for tropical storm Saudel
- Floods and mudslides during October have killed at least 105 people in central Vietnam
- The floods had compounded the suffering of people already struggling from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic
Spain begins 3 days of mourning for deadly train wreck while searchers look for more bodies
ADAMUZ: Spain woke to flags at half staff on Tuesday as the nation began three days of mourning for the victims of the deadly train accident in the country’s south, while emergency crews continue searching for possible bodies.
The official death toll of Sunday’s accident rose to 40 by late Monday. But officials warned that that count may not be definitive, with emergency workers still probing for bodies among what Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno called “a twisted mass of metal.”
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Spanish national television RTVE late Monday that searchers believe they have found three more bodies still trapped in the wreckage. Those bodies are not included in the official count, the minister said.
The crash took place Sunday at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails. It slammed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.
The head of the second train, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, took the brunt of the impact. That collision knocked its first two carriages off the track and sent them plummeting down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters (feet) from the crash site, Moreno said.
Officials are continuing to investigate the causes of the incident that Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente has called “strange” since it occurred on a straight line and neither train was speeding.
But Puente said late Monday that officials had found a broken section of track.
“Now we have to determine if that is a cause or a consequence (of the derailment),” Puente told Spanish radio Cadena Ser.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the accident site near the town of Adamuz on Monday, where he declared three days of mourning with flags lowered on all public buildings and navy vessels. Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia are scheduled to visit on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Civil Guard is collecting DNA samples from family members who fear they have loved ones among the unidentified dead.
The official death toll of Sunday’s accident rose to 40 by late Monday. But officials warned that that count may not be definitive, with emergency workers still probing for bodies among what Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno called “a twisted mass of metal.”
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Spanish national television RTVE late Monday that searchers believe they have found three more bodies still trapped in the wreckage. Those bodies are not included in the official count, the minister said.
The crash took place Sunday at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails. It slammed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.
The head of the second train, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, took the brunt of the impact. That collision knocked its first two carriages off the track and sent them plummeting down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters (feet) from the crash site, Moreno said.
Officials are continuing to investigate the causes of the incident that Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente has called “strange” since it occurred on a straight line and neither train was speeding.
But Puente said late Monday that officials had found a broken section of track.
“Now we have to determine if that is a cause or a consequence (of the derailment),” Puente told Spanish radio Cadena Ser.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the accident site near the town of Adamuz on Monday, where he declared three days of mourning with flags lowered on all public buildings and navy vessels. Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia are scheduled to visit on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Civil Guard is collecting DNA samples from family members who fear they have loved ones among the unidentified dead.
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