Vietnam typhoon death toll rises to 233 as more bodies found in areas hit by landslides and floods

Vietnam typhoon death toll rises to 233 as more bodies found in areas hit by landslides and floods
A resident cleans up on a street after flood waters receded in Hanoi on Sept. 13, 2024. Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades. (AFP)
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Updated 13 September 2024
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Vietnam typhoon death toll rises to 233 as more bodies found in areas hit by landslides and floods

Vietnam typhoon death toll rises to 233 as more bodies found in areas hit by landslides and floods
  • Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades
  • Soldiers rescued residents of flooded villages in the complex network of rivers and creeks surrounding the sprawling with some forced to wade through deep muddy brown waters

HANOI: The death toll in the aftermath of a typhoon in Vietnam climbed to 233 on Friday as rescue workers recovered more bodies from areas hit by landslides and flash floods, state media reported.
State-run broadcaster VTV said emergency crews have now recovered 48 bodies from the area of Lang Nu, a small village in northern Lao Cai province that was swept away in a deluge of water, mud and debris from mountains on Tuesday. Another 39 people are still missing.
Across Vietnam, 103 people are still listed as missing and more than 800 have been injured.
Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades. It made landfall Saturday with winds of up to 149kph. Though it had weakened by Sunday, downpours continued and rivers remain dangerously high.
Roads to Lang Nu have been badly damaged, making it impossible to bring heavy equipment in to aid in the rescue effort.
Some 500 personnel with sniffer dogs are on hand, and in a visit to the scene on Thursday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh promised they would not relent in their search for those still missing.
“Their families are in agony,” Chinh said.
In a sign of hope, eight people from two Lang Nu households were found safe early Friday morning, state-run VNExpress newspaper reported.
They had been out of the area at the time when the flash flood hit. 

Hundreds of villagers in Myanmar waded or swam through chin-high waters, fleeing severe floods around remote capital Naypyidaw on Friday, as Vietnam began clearing up after Typhoon Yagi.
A swathe of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar have been battling floods and landslides in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which dumped a colossal deluge of rain when it hit the region last weekend.
Myanmar’s national fire service on Friday confirmed the new death toll, up from 17, while more than 50,000 people have been forced from their homes.
“We walked through neck-high water this morning,” one woman told AFP at Sin Thay village.
“We are very hungry and thirsty. It been about three days we don’t have food.”
Soldiers rescued residents of flooded villages in the complex network of rivers and creeks surrounding the sprawling, low-rise capital, with some forced to wade through deep muddy brown waters.
Houses and nearby banana and sugarcane plantations were all submerged.
“This is the very first time I have experienced such a flood,” another man said near the village, where people had gathered near a small bridge.
“We didn’t have time to prepare. It was a very scary experience.”
State media said flooding in the area around the capital had caused landslides and destroyed electricity towers, buildings, roads, bridges, and houses.
In Mandalay region, one group of villagers rode elephants to reach dry land, in footage posted on social media.
In Vietnamese capital Hanoi, residents equipped with shovels, brushes and hoses were out clearing up debris and mud from the streets after the waters that had submerged parts of the city receded — and the sun came out for the first time in days.
The Red River through Hanoi reached its highest level in 20 years earlier this week as the rain brought by Yagi funnelled out toward the sea.
“This was the highest flooding I’ve ever seen, it was more than a meter on our first floor,” Nguyen Lan Huong, 40, told AFP.
“The water started to recede yesterday afternoon so we began cleaning up bit by bit. But it will take days for our family to fully recover, and even weeks for the community here I think.”
A total of 130,000 people were evacuated in northern Vietnam since Yagi hit on Saturday — and many have not yet been able to return home — while more than 135,000 homes have been damaged according to the authorities.
In the deadliest single incident, a landslide wiped out a village in mountainous Lao Cai province, killing 48 people.
But in a rare piece of good news, eight people missing in the landslide and feared dead have returned safe. Some had been staying with relatives while others managed to escape in time.
Northern Thailand was also badly affected, with one district on the Myanmar border reporting its worst floods in 80 years.
Officials said Friday a fatality in a landslide in Chiang Rai province had taken the toll in the kingdom to 10.
Flights to Chiang Rai airport resumed on Friday a day after airlines halted them.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was set to visit Chiang Rai on Friday to see relief efforts, which are being led by the military.
There are flood warnings for several locations along the River Mekong, including Laotian capital Vientiane.
The Mekong River Commission said low-lying areas around Vientiane are expected to be flooded over the next few days.


Russian man jailed for burning Qur’an charged with treason

Russian man jailed for burning Qur’an charged with treason
Updated 6 sec ago
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Russian man jailed for burning Qur’an charged with treason

Russian man jailed for burning Qur’an charged with treason
  • Russia’s prosecutor general’s office said that 20-year-old Nikita Zhuravel was accused of sending footage of a freight train carrying warplanes
MOSCOW: A Russian man jailed in February for burning the Qur’an has been charged with treason by prosecutors who accuse him of passing video footage of military movements to Ukraine.
In a statement, Russia’s prosecutor general’s office said that 20-year-old Nikita Zhuravel was accused of sending footage of a freight train carrying warplanes, and information about the movements of a car linked to a Russian military base to a representative of Ukrainian intelligence.
It said Zhuravel had volunteered himself to send the Ukrainian intelligence officer the data.
Reuters was not immediately able to identify a lawyer representing Zhuravel in the treason case.
Zhuravel is serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence after being convicted under Russia’s law against offending religious believers, for publicly burning a Qur’an in his home city of Volgograd.
His case drew international attention last year when Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov published a video in which his son Adam was shown beating and kicking the defendant while he was in prison awaiting trial.
Russian investigators had earlier transferred his case to Chechnya. The Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said this was because they received many messages from residents of the heavily Muslim region asking to be designated injured parties.

Armed assailants kill four in attack on Mexico rehab center

Armed assailants kill four in attack on Mexico rehab center
Updated 56 min 37 sec ago
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Armed assailants kill four in attack on Mexico rehab center

Armed assailants kill four in attack on Mexico rehab center
  • The attack took place in Salamanca in the central state of Guanajuato on Tuesday night
  • Guanajuato is Mexico’s most violent state, according to official homicide statistics

CELAYA, Mexico: Armed assailants attacked a drug rehabilitation center in Mexico, killing four people and wounding five others, local authorities said Wednesday.
The attack took place in Salamanca in the central state of Guanajuato on Tuesday night, the municipal government said in a statement.
Police and the National Guard “initiated a chase to find those responsible,” but the attackers escaped by throwing down metal spikes to puncture the tires of security forces in pursuit, it said.
Police said three bodies of those killed were found inside the rehab center while a fourth was found in the street.
No suspects have been arrested yet.
Disputes between drug gangs have led to rehab centers being targeted in several attacks in Mexico.
Authorities say some rehab centers are used as safe havens by suspected members of criminal groups, who are attacked by their rivals when found.
Guanajuato is Mexico’s most violent state, according to official homicide statistics, due to fighting between the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel and the powerful Jalisco New Generation.
Mexico has recorded more than 450,000 murders since December 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug operation was launched.


Six migrants including Pakistanis shot dead by Mexican troops near Guatemalan border

Six migrants including Pakistanis shot dead by Mexican troops near Guatemalan border
Updated 03 October 2024
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Six migrants including Pakistanis shot dead by Mexican troops near Guatemalan border

Six migrants including Pakistanis shot dead by Mexican troops near Guatemalan border
  • Soldiers opened fire on truck carrying migrants from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India, Pakistan, one other country
  • Soldiers then approached the truck and found four of the migrants dead and 12 wounded

MEXICO CITY: Six international migrants are dead after Mexican soldiers opened fire on a truck carrying a group near the border with Guatemala, Mexico’s Defense Department said Wednesday.

The department said in a statement that soldiers claimed they heard shots as the trucks and two other vehicles approached their position late Tuesday in the southern state of Chiapas, near the town of Huixtla.

Two soldiers opened fire on the truck, which was carrying migrants from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India, Pakistan and at least one other country. Soldiers then approached the truck and found four of the migrants dead, and 12 wounded.

Two of the wounded later died of their injuries. There was no immediate information on the condition of the other 10.

Local prosecutors confirmed all the victims died of gunshot wounds. The Defense Department did not say whether the migrants died as a result of army fire, or whether any weapons were found in the truck.

There were 17 other migrants in the truck who were unharmed. The vehicle was carrying a total of 33 migrants. The area is common route for smuggling migrants, who are often packed into crowded freight trucks.

The department said the two soldiers who opened fire were relieved of duty pending investigations. In Mexico, any incident involving civilians is subject to civilian prosecution, but soldiers can also face military courts martial for those offenses.

It is not the first time Mexican forces have opened fire on vehicles carrying migrants in the area, which is also the object of turf battles between warring drug cartels.

In the same area in 2021, the quasi-military National Guard opened fire on a pickup truck carrying migrants, killing one and wounding four.

Irineo Mujica, a migrant rights activist who has frequently accompanied caravans of migrants in that area of Chiapas, said he doubted the migrants or their smugglers opened fire.

“It is really impossible that these people would have been shooting at the army,” Mujica said. “Most of the time, they get through by paying bribes.”

The UN agency for refugees in Mexico, known as the ACNUR, wrote that it “expresses its concern about the events in Chiapas,” noting “people in migration are exposed to great risks during their journey, and that is why it is indispensable they have legal means of access, travel, and integration to avoid tragedies like these.”

If the deaths were the result of army fire, as appears likely, it could prove a major embarrassment for President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office Tuesday.

Sheinbaum has followed the lead of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in giving the armed forces extraordinary powers in law enforcement, state-run companies , airports, trains and construction projects.


Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land

Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
Updated 03 October 2024
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Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land

Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
  • Krathon packs sustained wind speeds of 126 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 162kph
  • Across Taiwan, nearly 10,000 people had been evacuated as of Thursday

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan: Taiwan shut down schools and offices for a second day Thursday as Typhoon Krathon pounded the island before its expected landfall, leaving two dead and more than 100 injured.
Krathon, packing sustained wind speeds of 126 kilometers (78 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 162 kph — was 30 kilometers southwest of southern Kaohsiung at 10:00 am (0200 GMT), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).
“The center of the typhoon is forecast to make landfall around noon, near southern Tainan, Kaohsiung or Pingtung. The time has been delayed as it’s moving very slowly,” forecaster Chang Chun-yao said.
While CWA chief Cheng Chia-ping said Wednesday that the typhoon was expected to weaken rapidly after landing, residents of Kaohsiung were urged to take shelter.
“There will be winds of destructive force caused by typhoon in this area. Take shelter ASAP,” the CWA said in a warning sent three times to residents’ mobile phones Thursday.
Kaohsiung’s mayor, Chen Chi-mai, told reporters the city was experiencing “the strongest winds” and that he expected the typhoon to make landfall by 1 pm.
“We urge residents not to go out unless necessary,” he said. “So far, Kaohsiung has recorded 356 disaster cases, mostly falling trees and advertising signs.”
Torrential rain and powerful winds unleashed on the island have already left at least two people dead, two missing and 123 injured, said the National Fire Agency.
A 70-year-old man was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after he fell while trimming trees in eastern Hualien county and died in hospital the next day.
And a 66-year-old man, hospitalized in nearby Taitung on Monday after his truck hit a huge rock that had fallen onto the road, also died Wednesday.
Krathon has disrupted traffic, causing all domestic flights to be suspended for a second day and the cancelation of around 240 international flights.
Across Taiwan, nearly 10,000 people had been evacuated as of Thursday, according to the interior ministry.
Krathon has caused mudslides and flooding, and damaged houses and roads in some areas as it slowly moves toward Taiwan, officials and reports said.
In Kaohsiung, strong gusts swept three motorcyclists to the ground as they were driving, while swaying buildings, shattering windows in some buildings and uprooting trees.
Powerful waves pounded the coast of nearby Pingtung county, with some seawater spilling onto a road and causing it to collapse in two places, TV footage showed.
In New Taipei city in the island’s north, where rain and wind was intensifying, a mudslide sent a large rock tumbling down onto a temple near a slope, partially smashing its roof, SET TV reported.
Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but experts say climate change has increased their intensity, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.
In July, Gaemi became the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in eight years, killing at least 10 people, injuring hundreds, and triggering widespread flooding in Kaohsiung.
The storm was approaching Taiwan after slamming into a remote group of Philippine islands, where it cut power and communications and damaged “many” houses, according to a local mayor.


Former Singapore minister sentenced to a year in prison for receiving illegal gifts

Former Singapore minister sentenced to a year in prison for receiving illegal gifts
Updated 03 October 2024
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Former Singapore minister sentenced to a year in prison for receiving illegal gifts

Former Singapore minister sentenced to a year in prison for receiving illegal gifts
  • Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran had pleaded guilty last week to the charges, in a rare criminal case involving a minister in the Asian financial hub
  • Singapore's ministers are among the world’s best-paid and Iswaran's indictment is an embarrassment in a nation known for clean governance

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A former Singaporean cabinet minister was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of receiving illegal gifts, in a rare criminal case involving a minister in the Asian financial hub.
Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran had pleaded guilty last week to one count of obstructing justice and four of accepting gifts from people with whom he had official business. He was the first minister to be charged and imprisoned in nearly half a century.
Justice Vincent Hoong, in his ruling, said holders of high office “must be expected to avoid any perception that they are susceptible to influence by pecuniary benefits,” according to Channel News Asia.
“I am of the view it is appropriate to impose a sentence in excess of both parties’ positions,” Hoong was quoted as saying.
The defense had asked for no more than eight weeks in prison, while the prosecution had pushed for six to seven months imprisonment.
Iswaran, 62, was initially charged with 35 counts, but prosecutors proceeded with only five, while reducing two counts of corruption to receiving illegal gifts. Prosecutors said they will apply for the remaining 30 charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing. No reasons were given for the move.
Iswaran received gifts worth over 74,000 Singapore dollars ($57,000) from Ong Beng Seng, a Singapore-based Malaysian property tycoon, and businessperson Lum Kok Seng. The gifts included tickets to Singapore’s Formula 1 race, wine and whisky and a luxury Brompton bike. Ong owns the right to the local F1 race, and Iswaran was chair of and later adviser to the Grand Prix’s steering committee.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers said it will decide whether to charge Ong and Lum after the case against Iswaran has been resolved.
Singapore ‘s ministers are among the world’s best-paid. Although the amount involved in Iswaran’s case appeared to be relatively minor, his indictment is an embarrassment to the ruling People’s Action Party, which prides itself on a clean image.
The last Cabinet minister charged with graft was Wee Toon Boon, who was found guilty in 1975 and jailed for accepting gifts in exchange for helping a businessperson. Another Cabinet minister was investigated for graft in 1986, but died before charges were filed.
Iswaran had resigned just before he was charged. His trial comes just over four months after Singapore installed new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong after Lee Hsien Loong stepped down after 20 years.