Switzerland has stepped in to provide Vietnam with assistance in responding to the devastating typhoon Yagi by sending six humanitarian experts and relief supplies to this Southeast Asian nation, according to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs' press release on Thursday.

The European country is also committing one million Swiss francs (US$1.17 million) to help typhoon-stricken communities in Vietnam.

Typhoon Yagi has caused widespread devastation across several Southeast Asian countries, with its powerful winds and torrential rainfall battering the Philippines, China, and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the extreme weather inundated many localities and triggered major landslides, with mountainous regions especially hard hit.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday dispatched a team of six experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit to Vietnam.

The team, comprising specialists in water and sanitation, emergency shelter, and disaster risk reduction, will assist local authorities in assessing needs and formulating short- and medium-term responses.

The SDC is also arranging to send relief supplies, including 300 family tents and two water distribution systems capable of serving 10,000 people. 

In the immediate term, the SDC is coordinating with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deliver essential goods funded by Switzerland to the affected areas.

The SDC has earmarked one million Swiss francs for supporting the impacted populations. 

It is also one of the largest contributors to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which has likewise released funds to support relief operations. 

Vietnam is a priority country for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, which is currently exploring the reallocation of some of its activities to address the needs arising from the disaster.

The evacuations and other preventive measures implemented by the authorities have helped to minimize the number of victims. 

Nevertheless, thousands of people have been displaced, and several hundred people are reported dead or missing.

Vietnam has not experienced a natural catastrophe of this magnitude in over three decades.

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