Landslides triggered by heavy rains and whirlwinds killed six people and left another missing in central and southern Vietnamese localities on Saturday and Sunday, according to a report by the national steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control.

The deceased included three traffic police officers and one local resident who died in a landslide in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Sunday.

The fatal landslide took place on a National Highway 20 section running through Bao Loc Pass near famed Da Lat City in Lam Dong Province.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of the three police officers as of 8:30 pm on Sunday and the body of the resident by around 12:00 pm on Monday.

The south-central province of Binh Thuan also reported a death, a 47-year-old woman in Nghi Duc Commune, Tanh Linh District, who was swept away by floodwaters on Saturday and found dead later.

On the same day, strong waves and winds capsized a fishing boat with four fishermen on board off Binh Thuan. Other fishermen saved three people but a 41-year-old man is still missing.

Meanwhile, heavy rains and strong winds pulled down a house in Bac Lieu Province in southern Vietnam, killing a 36-year-old woman and injuring her husband and her eight-year-old son, local media reported.

Torrential rains have also eroded and damaged many National Highway sections and rural roads, including a National Highway 20 section passing through Bao Loc Pass, resulting in traffic congestion.

A strong whirlwind uprooted many trees and caused many power poles to fall down in Dat Do District of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province on Sunday morning, according to news site Dan Tri.

A deluge also led to flooding on a section of the newly-opened Phan Thiet-Dau Giay Expressway in Song Phan Commune, Ham Tan District, Binh Thuan Province, causing many vehicles to break down, congestion stretching three kilometers, and traffic delays for about five hours on Saturday.

The national steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control also reported that downpours and whirlwinds knocked down 89 houses, tore roofs off 446 houses, submerged nearly 3,900 hectares of rice and 184.8 hectares of other crops, killed 31 heads of cattle and 275 poultry individuals, and damaged 12 hectares of seafood.

As the situation will remain complicated in the following days, the committee required cities and provinces to seriously execute the prime minister’s official dispatch on easing the consequences of the landslide in Lam Dong Province and take the initiative in response to landslides during the rainy season.

The northern region will experience rains with average rainfall of 70-150 millimeters from Monday to Wednesday, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

Meanwhile, the Central Highlands and southern regions will see precipitation of 60-120 millimeters.

Moderate and heavy rains will continue in these two regions in the upcoming days.

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