HANOI, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Damrey has claimed 27 lives and left 22 people missing after hitting Vietnam's central and central highlands regions on Saturday morning, the country's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said on Sunday morning.
The dead victims included 16 in central Khanh Hoa province, three in central Binh Dinh province, three in central highlands Lam Dong province, one in central highlands Dak Lak province, and four whose places of birth have not been reported.
Among the 22 missing people, four from Binh Dinh, one from central Phu Yen province, and 17 whose places of birth have yet to be reported, the committee said, noting that the 17 people are crew members of cargo ships which either were damaged or sank in Binh Dinh's Quy Nhon city due to strong waves and winds.
According to the Binh Dinh People's Committee, 10 cargo ships with a total of 91 people on board were either damaged or sank. By Sunday morning, four crew members had died and 17 others been listed as missing.
Meanwhile, a fishing ship with two people on board from Binh Dinh had been drifted on the sea after its engine broke down.
Damrey has also destroyed 626 houses and damaged over 39,700 others, inundated nearly 30,000 hectares of crops, and damaged or sank 228 fishing ships and boats.
Floodwater and landslides have disrupted road and rail transport on national road sections in Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam.
On Saturday, 84 flights to some central and central highlands provinces were canceled, but flights to central Da Nang city have been conducted normally before and after the typhoon landed.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked relevant forces to mobilize people and vehicles to seek the missing people, especially in sea waters in Quy Nhon city.
Fairly strong winds on Saturday morning destroyed or damaged several welcome gates and billboards on the key roads along My Son beach in central Da Nang city, which will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week on Nov. 6-11.
According to the Da Nang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the municipal authorities have put forth three scenarios in which the city will have to respond to the typhoon, floods and high waves, even tsunamis to help ensure safety and security of the APEC week with the participation of some 10,000 delegates, 2,000 chief executive officers of leading firms in APEC economies, and 3,000 reporters.
