Landslide kills 13 in Vietnam

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1127166 [headline] => Landslide kills 13 in Vietnam [abstract] => At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide in central Vietnam following storms and flooding that have now left almost 130 people dead, officials said. [keywords] => Vietnam Landslide [content] =>

At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide in central Vietnam following storms and flooding that have now left almost 130 people dead, officials said on Saturday.

The 13 were killed and another person was seriously injured in the early hours of Friday in the coastal province of Quang Nam, local emergency official Vo Xuan Quang told AFP.

The landslide, triggered by rains that have lashed the country since tropical storm Mirinae hit on Monday, dumped thousands of tonnes of earth and mud on a group of gold miners, who were sleeping at the time, Quang said.

The storm and flooding that followed have left another 116 people dead, most of them in the country's easternmost province of Phu Yen.

Mirinae also killed two people in Vietnam's neighbour Cambodia and left 27 people dead in the Philippines, where thousands are still living in evacuation centres after a series of deadly storms this typhoon season.

[start_date] => 07 November 2009 | 05:55:09 PM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AAP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => 13 people are reported killed in a landslide in Vietnam. (AFP File Image) [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 131551 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_917261001_landslide_indo_afp_b_091108.jpg [title] => landslide_indo_afp_b_091108_917261001 [description] => file:site_1_rand_917261001_landslide_indo_afp_b_091108.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-11-08 11:09:14 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [1] => Array ( [id] => 1121762 [label] => Tsunami-hit Samoans 'hungry, thirsty' [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [0] => Array ( [id] => 1116991 [label] => Typhoon threatens northern Philippines [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1116991 [headline] => Typhoon threatens northern Philippines [abstract] => Typhoon Lupit is hovering off the northern Philippines, bringing huge waves, strong winds and the threat of landslides, the chief government forecaster says. [content] =>

Typhoon Lupit is hovering off the northern Philippines, bringing huge waves, strong winds and the threat of landslides, the chief government forecaster says.

The typhoon, known locally as "Ramil", had slowed but was still expected to cross the north of the main Luzon island on Sunday, said Cruz on Friday.

He also held out hope the unpredictable storm may still turn away from the country.

"Typhoon Ramil is almost stationary over the northern tip of Cagayan province," he told reporters.

This meant that the northernmost provinces of Cagayan and Ilocos Norte would continue to experience bad weather such as strong wind and rain, according to Cruz.

"(So) we cannot dismiss the risk of landslides because for two weeks, the land has been soaked," he said.

He said the typhoon was stuck between two high-pressure areas that were keeping it from moving faster.

Weather stations in Hong Kong and Japan said Lupit would make a sharp turn northwards, away from the Philippines.

But Cruz said this had not yet been confirmed, while warning that the storm and the high-pressure areas were all "erratic", making definite forecasts impossible.

As of 8am on Friday (1100 AEDT), Lupit was 110 kilometres east of Aparri town in Cagayan province, with wind gusts reaching 150km/h, the weather station said.

The government civil defence office said a concrete seawall had collapsed in Aparri due to strong waves brought by Lupit.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who is also in charge of disaster preparedness, said the government was continuing to monitor the storm for any change in its movement.

"We really plan for the worst case scenario," he said in a radio interview.

People in coastal fishing towns and other vulnerable areas had already been evacuated from their homes, while relief and rescue supplies had been stocked in the north in the event that Lupit hits.

Lupit's imminent arrival comes after tropical storms Ketsana and Parma caused massive destruction across the northern Philippines from September 26.

Over 900 people were killed by Ketsana and Parma due to flooding and landslides, while over 186,000 people are still in evacuation centres weeks after the storms left the country, the civil defence office says.

At least 148 other people have died from ensuring waterborne disease outbreaks in the nation's capital, Manila, some of which remains flooded.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 23 October 2009 [articletime] => 23 October 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1121762 [headline] => Tsunami-hit Samoans 'hungry, thirsty' [abstract] => The aftershocks might be subsiding but one month after an earthquake sent killer waves over Samoa, many families are more desperate than ever. [content] =>

The aftershocks might be subsiding but one month after an earthquake sent killer waves over Samoa, many families are more desperate than ever.

A special investigation by the country's national newspaper, Samoa Observer, has revealed that basic aid supplies are not getting to many victims of the September 29 tsunami.

Many large families on the decimated southern coast are going without water and starchy foods, and are sheltering in tents and tarpaulin-covered huts, said editor Keni Lesa, who led the investigation.

"We went out there in the hope of finding some good news, some improvements, and what we found was family after family going hungry, going thirsty and living in totally substandard conditions," he told AAP.

"It was a shock, especially given we have seen container after container of aid supplies arrive from Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere."

He said some families had not received food rations for a fortnight, and had depleted their supplies and were now trying to survive on root vegetables grown in plantations undamaged in the disaster.

The discovery appears to confirm claims that aid supplies have been abused by government officials or by those further down the chain, like village chiefs.

The claims, reported by local media last week, have been fiercely attacked by the country's prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who said the nation's journalists were "uneducated" and making up "crooked stories" that were "totally unfounded".

He urged the media to "go take a closer look". Lesa said the prime minister would not be pleased with what they found.

"What we saw was undoubtedly some major problems in aid distribution," the editor said.

"We heard stories of aid being distributed to every family in a village, even those unaffected, and other stories of containers only being accessed by a small part of the town.

"Basically it's been a totally haphazard distribution process and it has failed many, many people."

Poverty levels have reportedly worsened considerably in recent weeks, and were expected to drop further, especially with the onset of the cyclone season.

Families sheltering in tents and huts would likely be drenched in heavy rains. Many survivors who spoke to the Observer said they were worried the wooden single-room government-subsidised homes to be built won't be large or strong enough to protect them.

"It's cyclone season coming up. What are we going to do with that kind of house?" asked Romeo Lutau, who is living in a Red Cross tent with his wife and seven children.

"We need a brick house with rooms to be absolutely safe."

The tsunami killed 143 people in Samoa, including five Australians - three adults and two children.

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