PAC NAM, Vietnam, July 7 (Reuters) - Vietnamese soldiers and police used sniffer dogs on Tuesday to search for victims of floods in the north of the country which killed at least 34 people. Flash floods and landslides from heavy rain on Friday night hit eight northern mountainous provinces in one of Vietnam's most impoverished areas, with Bac Kan province topping the casualty list with 13 deaths. Flooding and heavy rain late last week in neighbouring southern China forced 550,000 people to evacuate their homes and killed at least 15, Xinhua news agency reported. [ID:nL5656263] The government said on Tuesday nearly 800 houses in seven provinces had been destroyed or submerged, while floods had damaged rice and corn crops, irrigation systems and roads. Vietnam is often struck by floods and storms between July and October. The disaster area is far from Vietnam's main rice and coffee growing regions. (Reporting by Nguyen Huy Kham; Writing by Ho Binh Minh in HANOI; Editing by Nick Macfie) (For more information on humanitarian crises and issues visit www.alertnet.org)
Chinese riot police get into position as Uighur protesters gather during a demonstration in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Uighur protesters clashed with Chinese riot police in the ...
