Scores dead or missing in north Vietnam flash floods

Hanoi: More than 80 people died or were missing in northern Vietnam after a tropical storm brought landslidees and flash floods, the government said on Saturday.

The mountainous province of Lao Cai, bordering China, was the most seriously hit with at least 66 people reported missing, it said.

The government issued an urgent call for the immediate rescue and evacuation of people from areas vulnerable to flash floods.

The National Meteorology Centre said at least five people were missing in Lao Cai's resort town of Sapa, popular with foreign backpackers.

Work is under way to search for the missing, an official from Lao Cai's weather centre said.