A family in the northern Vietnamese province of Lai Chau has loss everything to serious floods after their fish farm worth over US$440,000 was completely swept away.

The family of Duong Hai Long has been raising salmon and sturgeons at their farm in Son Binh Commune, Tam Duong District, which cost them an investment of more than VND10 billion ($440,000).

Prolonged downpours caused a landslide to bury the entire venue on Sunday morning, shortly before a flash flood washed away everything left of the farm.

The family’s house situated nearby was also damaged.

The farm is now nothing but rubble following the incident. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Long’s father, Duong Ngoc Hung, who is the owner of the business, could not escape and has gone missing since then.

About 34 metric tons of sturgeons and salmon were being raised at the farm prior to the incident, Long said.

“Everything is lost. My only hope right now is finding my father,” the man burst in tears.

Long recalled being in Lai Chau City when he received a phone call from Hung telling him to come and help move assets out of the farm, as floods and mudslides were very likely to occur.

The farm is now nothing but rubble following the incident. Photo: Tuoi Tre

It was too late when Long arrived at the location.

“We could only find my dad’s motorbike, buried under rocks and mud, while he was nowhere to be found,” Long continued.

According to Tran Van Sinh, vice-chairman of the People’s Committee in Tam Duong District, a total of four farms with more than 130 metric tons of fish across the district was damaged in the natural disaster.

Among them, Hung’s farm suffered the heaviest losses, Sinh assessed.

The house nearby is also damaged. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Heavy downpours started hitting Lai Chau Province on Saturday night, causing inundation, flash floods, and mudslides in multiple areas.

Eleven people have been killed and 11 others missing in the province so far.

Ha Giang Province is also affected by the disaster, with three fatalities recorded.

Torrential rain is forecast to linger until the end of Wednesday.

Another fish farm in Lai Chau Province is damaged by floods. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Another fish farm in Lai Chau Province is damaged by floods. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!