Typhoon Yagi aftermath: bridge collapses in Vietnam as death toll reaches 64
Typhoon Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian nation in decades when it made landfall over the weekend
Nine people died during the typhoon, which made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday before weakening to a depression, and more than 50 others died during the consequent floods and landslides. The water levels of several rivers in northern Vietnam were dangerously high.
A passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province on Monday morning. Rescuers were deployed, but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place.
In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed on Monday morning. Reports said 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to the hospital, but 13 others were missing.
Pham Truong Son, 50, told VNExpress that he was driving on the bridge on his motorcycle when he heard a loud noise. Before he knew what was happening, he was falling into the river. “I felt like I was drowned to the bottom of the river,” Son told the newspaper, adding that he managed to swim and hold on to a drifting banana tree to stay afloat before he was rescued.
