HANOI, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is working on evacuating people, calling for ships to shelter, and protecting sea dykes to cope with Hagibis storm, which was about 300 kilometers away from the country's central coast Thursday night.

    Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked local relevant agencies to evacuate people in high-risk areas before the approach of the storm with wind speeds of 103-133 kilometers per hour, which is forecast to affect Vietnam's central region on Friday night, local newspaper People reported Friday.

    Dung has also asked the agencies to direct local people to protect houses, offices, schools and hospitals, call for ships and boats in dangerous areas to take shelter, mobilize forces and equipment to protect sea dykes, prepare rescue work and food, and medicines to support storm-hit localities.

    As of Thursday afternoon, over 39,500 ships with 219,000 fishermen operating on the sea have taken shelter.

    A government working delegation led by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has came to the region, leading storm prevention work.

    Natural disasters including typhoons and hails in Vietnam killed 339 people, left 274 persons missing, and injured 2,065 others in 2006. The estimated losses totaled 18.6 trillion Vietnamese dong (nearly 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the year.