The search for buried passengers was expected to continue Monday after a landslide slammed into a bus on a hazardous mountain pass in Vietnam on Sunday.
At least six people were killed and 19 others were injured as rocks and mud crushed the front of the bus traveling through the Khanh Le pass. The winding, steep, 20-mile road is popular with tourists for its stunning mountain scenes, but the area is prone to landslides during the rainy season.
That continuing heavy rain left rescuers struggling to reach the scene of the disaster late Sunday, with state media reporting that teams were only able to reach the bus after midnight.
Thirty-two people were reportedly on board, heading to the coastal city of Nha Trang. State media said two bodies were still trapped under the debris in the treacherous terrain.
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The bus left a station in Da Lat around 7:30 p.m., according to the online newspaper VnExpress, and many passengers were sleeping when the landslide occurred. Survivors told VnExpress they were jolted awake by a series of loud noises and then the bus lurched.
One woman returning home from her honeymoon said she had to crawl through a broken window to escape, but her husband was trapped by rocks and could not move. She also described how other passengers used hammers to break through a glass door, trying to reach victims who were trapped in the mangled metal of the bus.
Bui Toan/VNExpress via AP
Heavy rain is pounding central Vietnam, which earlier was hit hard by Typhoon Kalmaegi. Rainfall through Wednesday is expected to reach 12–24 inches in parts of central Vietnam, with some areas likely to exceed 33 inches.
Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides in mountainous areas of Hue city on Sunday, blocking a major highway that runs from northern to southern Vietnam and cutting off several villages. The former imperial capital has already endured historic floods this year.
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Vietnam is among the world’s most flood-prone countries, with nearly half its population living in high-risk areas. Scientists warn that a warming climate is intensifying storms and rainfall across Southeast Asia, making floods and landslides increasingly destructive and frequent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.