Next typhoon Vietnam’s 9th this year

HANOI: Rescue teams searched for more signs of life yesterday after a series of landslips in central Vietnam unleashed by Typhoon Molave, as yet another powerful storm barrelled towards Southeast Asia.

Helicopters, soldiers and search dogs are looking for dozens of people feared dead in Vietnam in at least five mudslides in a central region battered by weeks of intense weather.

Molave has killed close to 40 people since it arrived in Vietnam two days ago, although many people were rescued on Thursday, including three fishermen and 33 people pulled from a tiny village buried by earth.

‘‘The typhoon has left extremely huge damage,’’ Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung told a cabinet meeting yesterday.

Meanwhile, another storm, named Goni, gathered strength as it edged towards the Philippines, packing winds of up to 165kmh.

It could make landfall in the Philippines tomorrow, with winds of up to 185kmh, its weather agency said.

Goni is on course to reach central Vietnam later next week and would be the country’s ninth typhoon this year.

‘‘My house is covered in deep mud and debris but I have no plan to clean it up, as I heard more storms are coming,’’ Nguyen Thi Sinh, a resident of Quang Tri province, said.

‘‘Crops and livestock are all gone with the floodwater. We have to encourage ourselves at least we are still alive.’’ — Reuters