Typhoon death toll reaches 59
2006-10-05 12:26
Hanoi - The death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Xangsane rose on Thursday to 59 with seven others missing, officials said five days after the powerful storm struck the country.
Some 500 people were injured in the storm, the national committee on flood and storm control said on its website. The typhoon also killed more than 200 people in the Philippines.
Hundreds of thousands of houses were wrecked when the powerful storm slammed into central Vietnam on Sunday morning.
The state-controlled Vietnam News Agency said aid money from agencies, organisations and businesses has been pledged to help the region rebuild.
Several newspapers have noted since the storm struck that money pledged after Typhoon Chanchu in May, which left 267 people dead or missing, was sometimes ineffectively used by local authorities.
- AFP