AKIPRESS.COM - The death toll from the typhoon that struck Vietnam at the weekend has risen to at least 49, the government said on Monday, Reuters said.

After Typhoon Damrey’s winds tore off roofs, felled trees and ripped up electricity poles, heavy rains brought floods to central Vietnam just days before the region is due to host the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.

The Communist state’s Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention said 49 people had been killed and 27 were missing. It did not say how the victims died, but said most casualties were in Khan Hoa province near the city of Nha Trang, where the storm made landfall on Saturday.

Nearly 2,000 homes had collapsed and more than 80,000 had been damaged, it said. Roads that had been flooded or washed away caused traffic jams across several provinces.

After Typhoon Damrey’s winds tore off roofs, felled trees and ripped up electricity poles, heavy rains brought floods to central Vietnam just days before the region is due to host the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.