Fisherman dead, 12 missing in storm off Vietnam

Posted : Thu, 15 Oct 2009
By : dpa
Source: http://www.earthtimes.org

Hanoi - A Chinese fisherman died and 12 went missing as Tropical Storm Parma churned seas off Vietnam, a government official said Thursday. Two Chinese fishing boats with 14 crew members aboard were reported missing Wednesday after they anchored at the Vietnamese island of Bach Long Vi to escape the storm.

Nguyen Ba Tien, head of the storm authority in the port city of Haiphong, said coastal border forces had found the body of one of the Chinese fishermen Thursday and were searching for the others.

A Vietnamese freighter on Wednesday rescued a Chinese fisherman believed to have been on one of the missing boats, storm official Nguyen Hong Nhung said.

Tien said the two fishing boats anchored at Bach Long Vi Harbor Tuesday evening as Parma hit the island.

As the storm weakened early Wednesday, the fishing boats weighed anchor despite continued rough seas. Haiphong coastal border guards then lost radio contact with them.

"I believe big waves sank them," Tien said.

Vietnam's national storm and flood authorities said Parma sank 64 fishing boats, three barges, two motorboats and 50 coracles and seriously injured seven people.

In late September in Vietnam, Typhoon Ketsana killed 163 people and caused losses of more than 800 million dollars.

In 2008, natural disasters killed 550 people in Vietnam and caused damage amounting to more than 700 million dollars.

Both Parma and Ketsana also caused high tolls in the Philippines. Parma killed 375 people there in landslides and flooding, and Ketsana left 337 people dead and 37 missing in the country. It also caused deaths in Cambodia and Laos.