Hanoi, Sept 20: At least 61 people, including 56 children, have died in this year's annual flooding in Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta region, state media reported Friday. A total of 11 people have been killed in the past week in the provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap and Long An, said the Lao Dong daily, warning that flood waters could rise further in the next few days.

Children are the most vulnerable to the annual phenonemon that affects about eight million people in more than half of the 12 Delta provinces.

So far, 54,000 houses have been flooded and nearly 700 kilometres (440 miles) of roads have been submerged in the Delta region, where more than 100,000 children have also been unable to attend school for the 10 days.
Last year, during which there were two major flood peaks, some 300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless in the nutrient-rich region. Bureau Report