Tropical storm kills 3 in Vietnam

Packing wind speeds up to 117 kilometres an hour, the storm hit Vietnam's central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh overnight before it moved into Laos and then north-eastern Thailand and weakened to a depression.

At least three people were reported dead and 58 people were injured as authorities calculated the damage to hundreds of houses and thousands of hectares of flooded crops in Vietnam, according to initial reports from provinces.

"We haven't had the full statistics, but the damage cost that the storm caused to Nghe An province is estimated at 100 billion dong (6.2 million dollars)," said Ha Huy Thong with the flood and storm department of the province.

In Quang Tri province, the storm damaged 10 fishing boats and 21 houses, broke 1,070 rubber trees and inundated 944 hectares of crops, according to Le Viet Duong with the flood and storm department of the province.

Vietnam evacuated at least 80,000 people from coastal areas Wednesday as Lekima, which had killed eight people in the Philippines, approached its central coast.

By Thursday morning, the weakened storm was in Nong Khai province in north-eastern Thailand with wind speeds of between 62 and 75 kilometres per hour, according to the national Hydrometeorology Forecast Centre.

Floods and storms have killed at least 89 people in Vietnam since the beginning of this year. In 2006, more than 600 people were killed by floods and storms, including more than 200 people killed in Typhoon Chanchu in May last year.//DPA