Landslide kills at least 14
A LANDSLIDE early yesterday killed at least 14 military personnel and left eight missing in central Vietnam, the government said, in what could be the country’s largest military loss in peace time as it battles major flooding.
The mudslide hit the barracks of a unit of Vietnam’s 4th Military Region in the central province of Quang Tri, the government said on its website.
It occurred days after another landslide killed 13 people, mostly soldiers, in the neighbouring province of Thua Thien Hue.
“We had another sleepless night,” an emotional deputy defence minister, Phan van Giang, told reporters. The government said later that 14 bodies had been recovered and eight others remained missing.
“We’ve never lost so many military members, including two generals and high- ranking officials, in natural disasters,” the government said on Facebook. Rainfall since early October has caused the worst flooding for years, with more 80 people killed.