Wirlwind & new disease in Vietnam

Northern provinces clean up after heavy rain, whirlwind

Authorised agencies in the northern mountainous provinces of Bac Kan, Lao Cai and Tuyen Quang have assessed the damage and set up supports to remedy the damages of recent hail and whirlwind.

The move aims to help local people stabilise their daily life and return to production work.

Hail and whirlwind were a part of last Friday's midnight storm that destroyed over 2,200 houses and a number of crop areas in the districts of Bao Yen and Bao Thang, with an estimated damage of billions of dong in Lao Cai Province.

In an effort to remedy the aftermath, authorities of the two districts provided thousands of sq. metres of roofing shingles to help local people rebuild their houses, as well as seed to re-cultivate their crops.

The hail and whirlwinds injured three people and collapsed more than 2,100 houses in Bac Kan Province, said Trieu Van Thanh, deputy head of the provincial Irrigation and Flood and Storm Prevention Division.

The size of the hail was believed to be 0.5-3cm, with the storm occurring within 4-7 minutes, Thanh said.

According to the division, the initial damage caused by the hail and whirlwind was estimated at VND24 billion (US$1.1 million).

In Na Ri District, around 540 ha of rice, maize and crop were reported to be damaged.

In Tuyen Quang Province's in Tuyen Quang City, the storm destroyed a local house killing a 59-year-old woman, a 22-year-old girl and injuring a six-year-old child, all members of Dao-ethnic family.

Local authorities have provided VND14 million ($673) as support to the victims' family.

Mystery skin infection claims 19 lives in Vietnam

Vietnam says it will ask for international help to find out what is causing a skin infection that has already killed 19 people.

More than 170 others have become ill with the mystery infection.

The disease first emerged last year then subsided, but it has broken out again in an impoverished, mountainous part of Quang Ngai Province.

It begins with a rash on the hands and feet.

If it is not treated early it can result in liver problems and multiple organ failure.

Vietnam's health ministry has carried out tests but says it cannot yet pinpoint the cause.

The government says it will ask the World Health Organisation and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to join its investigation.