Tropical Storm Durian hits southern Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam - Tropical Storm Durian slammed into Vietnam's southern coast, killing at least 46 people, injuring more than 300 and destroying thousands of houses, officials said Tuesday.

The deaths brought Vietnam's storm-related death toll to 49. Three fishermen drowned Monday off the coast of Phu Yen province when their boat capsized as the storm approached. The storm, believed to have killed more than 1,000 people in the Philippines, was packing winds of 117 kilometres per hour when it made landfall in the southern Vietnamese provinces of Ben Tre and Tra Vinh on Tuesday morning, weather forecasters said.

In Ba Ria Vung Tau province, some 125 kilometres southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, at least 23 people were killed and nearly 150 others were injured when their houses collapsed, said Pham Nhat Quang, an official from the provincial military command.

Some were killed and many were injured by flying tin sheets which were blown off the houses, he said.

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