Flash flood sweeps away hamlet as Vietnam's storm toll rises to 155 dead

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A flash flood swept away an entire hamlet in northern Vietnam, killing 30 people and leaving dozens missing as deaths from a typhoon and its aftermath climbed to 155 on Wednesday.

Vietnamese state broadcaster VTV said the torrent of water gushing down from a mountain in Lao Cai province Tuesday buried Lang Nu hamlet with 35 families in mud and debris.

Only about a dozen are known so far to have survived. Rescuers have recovered 30 bodies and are continuing the search for about 65 others.

The death toll from Typhoon Yagi and its aftermath has climbed to 155. Another 141 people are missing and hundreds were injured, VTV said.

Floods and landslides have caused most of the deaths, many of which have come in the northwestern Lao Cai province, bordering China, where Lang Nu is located. Lao Cai province is also home to the popular trekking destination of Sapa.

Many roads in the province were blocked by landslides and unrelenting rainfall, said Sapa tour guide Van A Po. The weather has forced them to limit travel with all trekking suspended.

"It is very scary,” he said.

Tourism is a key engine for the local economy, and many in the industry found themselves stranded. Nguyen Van Luong, who works in a hotel, said he couldn't return home since the 15-kilometer (9-mile) road from Sapa to his village was too dangerous to drive.

“The road is badly damaged and landslides could happen anytime. My family told me to stay here until it’s safer to go home.”

On Monday, a bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding, killing dozens of people.

The steel bridge in Phu Tho province over the engorged Red River collapsed, sending 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes into the river. The bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province.

Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades. It made landfall Saturday with winds of up to 149 kph (92 mph). Despite weakening on Sunday, downpours have continued and rivers remain dangerously high.

The heavy rains also damaged factories in export-focused northern Vietnam's industrial hubs.

Storms like Typhoon Yagi are “getting stronger due to climate change, primarily because warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel the storms, leading to increased wind speeds and heavier rainfall,” said Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

The iconic Long Bien bridge is seen on flooded Red river, following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

A man pushes a stack of plyboards in flood following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

People watch a submerged dragon structure in a playground, following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

People fish next to a submerged playground due to flood , following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

People watch the flooded Red river next to iconic Long Bien bridge, following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

People look on a submerged dragon structure in a playground, following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

A banana garden is submerged in flood, following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

A woman paddles a boat on a flooded street, following Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Huy Han)

Mud and debris bury houses in Lang Nu hamlet in Lao Cai province, Vietnam Tuesday, Sep. 10, 2024. (Pham Hong Ninh/VNA via AP)

Rescue workers clear mud and debris brough down by a flood in Lang Nu hamlet in Lao Cai province, Vietnam Tuesday, Sep. 10, 2024. (Pham Hong Ninh/VNA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential election campaigning revs back up Tuesday, with Donald Trump heading to Michigan and Vice President Kamala Harris answering questions at a forum for Black journalists in Pennsylvania — even as authorities continue to investigate a second apparent assassination attempt against Trump that's roiled the race.

Trump is holding a town hall in Flint, Michigan, and has appearances later in the week in New York, Washington and North Carolina. Harris will participate in a Philadelphia gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists. She skipped the group's recent gathering in Chicago, but an openly antagonistic appearance there by Trump sparked an uproar when he questioned the vice president's racial identity.

Harris has her own stops in Washington, as well as Michigan and Wisconsin, planned in coming days, with both sides zeroing in on the industrial Midwest and Pennsylvania and North Carolina — all battleground areas that could swing an election expected to be exceedingly close.

Trump has claimed, without evidence, that months of criticisms against him by Harris and President Joe Bideninspired the latest attack. That's despite the former president's own long history of inflammatory campaign rhetoric and advocacy for jailing or prosecuting his political enemies.

Both Biden and Harris have so far avoided politics in reacting to the attack. Harris has condemned political violence while Biden has called on Congress to increase funding to the Secret Service.

Authorities say Ryan Wesley Routh camped outside the golf course in West Palm Beach, where Trump was playing on Sunday, for nearly 12 hours with food and a rifle but fled without firing shots when a Secret Service agent spotted and shot at him.

Subsequently arrested, Routh's past online posts suggest the suspect has not been consistent about his politics in terms of supporting Democrats or Republicans.

That attack came barely two months after Trump was wounded during a rally in Pennsylvania. In fundraising emails, he's implored supporters, “Fear not.” During an interview on the X social media platform, Trump recounted his experience Sunday, saying he was golfing with a friend and heard "probably four or five” shots being fired in the air.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)