The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Hanoi

Floods have killed 55 people in northern and central Vietnam including 18 in the capital Hanoi, which has been hit by the worst flooding in almost 25 years, emergency services said Monday.

Victims have drowned, been struck by falling trees and collapsing buildings or been electrocuted by live power lines, said the National Flood and Storm Prevention Committee.

Rains have lashed central Vietnam for more than a week and left many Hanoi neighbourhoods inundated in muddy waters since Friday, with thousands of residents trapped inside waterlogged homes, many without electricity.

Hanoi families with young children were using canoes and barges made from oil drums, packaging, bathtubs and banana trees to evacuate their television sets, furniture and other valued possessions.