North-South railway reopens after storm

HÀ NỘI — Trains resumed operations on the North-South railway on Monday morning after Storm Usagi disrupted services on Saturday afternoon.

According to the Việt Nam Railway Corporation, Storm Usagi - the ninth to hit the East Sea this year - caused damage to the railway network as it lashed the south-central and south-eastern regions from Ninh Thuận to Bến Tre provinces with heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend.

Parts of the network in the central provinces of Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa and Ninh Thuận were flooded and even washed away.

The corporation reported that more than 4,000 passengers were forced to use other means of transport due to 20 trains being cancelled.

Even though most of the damage has been repaired, the maximum speed trains can travel from Nha Trang to Ninh Thuận is 5km per hour.

HCM City and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and Bình Thuận provinces were hit hardest by the storm. One person has been reported dead in HCM City due to a falling tree, and over 50 houses in the city have been damaged. More than 25 houses in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and 12 in Bình Thuận were destroyed. Massive flooding has been reported in south-central and south-eastern regions. — Khanh