Vietnam flood

The death toll from flooding in Vietnam climbed to 59 on Tuesday after police said 18 passengers whose bus was swept away are presumed dead. Heavy rains that began late last week have washed over three provinces, Nghe An, Quang Binh, and Ha Tinh -- where a state of emergency was declared on Tuesday afternoon. Police in Ha Tinh said the bus disappeared on Monday in flood waters on the main north-south Highway 1A.The floods have wreaked havoc in Ha Tinh and the two adjacent provinces, where authorities said more than 150,000 homes had been inundated. Hundreds of soldiers using boats and metal detectors were mobilised to search for the missing passengers, state television reported. The international Red Cross on Monday appealed for more than one million dollars in aid for victims of the flooding, the second major inundation to hit the central region this month.