Typhoon Kajiki kills 3 in Vietnam, floods Hanoi streets

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HANOI (Reuters) -Typhoon Kajiki killed at least three people and injured 10 others in Vietnam, authorities said on Tuesday as they warned that heavy rains could cause flooding and landslides.

The storm damaged nearly 7,000 homes, inundated 28,800 hectares of rice plantings and felled 18,000 trees, the government said in a statement. It also brought down 331 electricity poles, causing widespread blackouts in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho provinces.

Streets in the capital Hanoi were severely flooded as heavy rains fell on Tuesday morning, paralysing traffic. Cars were seen submerged up to their roofs in water.

Flood water also surrounded residential areas in the city, which is preparing to host the country’s largest National Day parade in decades next week as it celebrates the 80th anniversary of its founding.

Video clips on state media showed that water at the West Lake, the largest lake in Hanoi, has overflowed its bank, as rain continued to fall.

Several villages in Bac Ninh province have also been isolated due to flooding, state media reports said.

After making landfall on Vietnam’s north central coast on Monday afternoon, Kajiki has since weakened into a tropical depression as it moved across to Laos on Tuesday morning, the national weather agency said. 

The agency warned that rain will continue in several parts of northern Vietnam, with some areas likely to get up to 150 millimetres (6 inches) in six hours, potentially causing flash floods and landslides.

Before making landfall in Vietnam, Kajiki skirted the southern coast of China’s Hainan Island on Sunday, forcing Sanya City on the island to close businesses and public transport.   

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by John Mair)