HANOI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Flash floods in Vietnam's four northern mountainous provinces in the last four days have killed 18 people, and left 18 others missing, Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control told Xinhua on Saturday.
The floods also injured 12 people, swept away 229 houses, and damaged 144 irrigation works, many national road sections and hundreds of hectares of crops, causing property losses of 718.2 billion Vietnamese dong (31.8 million U.S. dollars).
Among the 18 deaths, 10 were from Son La province, three from Yen Bai and Dien Bien each, and two from Lai Chau. Regarding the 18 people listed as missing as of Saturday evening, 11 are from Yen Bai, six from Son La and one from Lai Chau.
Natural disasters, mainly storms and floods, killed 75 people in Vietnam, and injured 77 others in the first seven months of this year, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
