Weakened Typhoon Conson leaves 17 Vietnamese fishermen missing; several bodies found

Tropical storm leaves 17 missing in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam — The number of Vietnamese missing from tropical storm Conson increased to 17 Monday following dozens of deaths in the Philippines and China.

Eleven fishermen from two trawlers were reported missing, said disaster official Do Son in central Quang Ngai province. Six fishermen from another boat were initially reported missing after their vessel sank Friday while seeking shelter at the Paracel islands off Vietnam’s coast.

Search-and-rescue teams continued to scour the areas where the boats were last reported, but no bodies have been recovered, he said.

In the northern province of Quang Ninh, authorities found a man who was earlier reported missing after his small boat sank in the picturesque tourist attraction of Ha Long Bay, said disaster official Pham Dinh Hoa.

Authorities also recovered the body of a 1-year-old who died of an illness just before the storm hit. The body was swept away from the mother when the small boat she was using to ferry the body for burial capsized, he said.

Authorities also found the body of a female Vietnamese tourist swept away by big waves while swimming, said disaster official Nguyen Thi Bich Lien, in northern Thanh Hoa province. The woman was not counted as a victim because she drown before the storm came.

Before making landfall in Vietnam over the weekend, Typhoon Conson left a trail of destruction in the Philippines where 68 people died and another 84 remain missing. Two people died in China.

In Vietnam, more than 600 homes were damaged and 43 boats destroyed before the storm dissipated, the national floods and storms control department said Monday.

Rain was forecast for some northwestern Vietnamese provinces Monday, though it was unlikely to cause major flash floods and landslides.