Jakarta, ID
Tuesday, May 29 2012, 03:28 AM

National

Heavy rains kill 16 in central Vietnam; 4 missing

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Officials say heavy rains have killed at least 16 people and left four others missing in central Vietnam, which is still recovering from devastating floods last week.

Disaster officials said Sunday up to 31.5 inches (800 millimeters) of rain has been dumped on the region over the past three days. That's forced nearly 80,000 people from their homes in three provinces.

Officials say eight people have died in Nghe An province. Eight others died in neighboring Ha Tinh provnce, where three people were missing. One person is missing in Quang Binh province.

Floods last week killed 66 people and left 17 missing. Many people returned to their homes several days ago only to be evacuated again.