September 30, 2009
HANOI (AFP) - Flooding up to one metre (more than three feet) deep was reported in southern Laos on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Ketsana pushed deeper into Southeast Asia, leaving a trail of death and destruction.
There were no reports of fatalities in Laos but Salavan town and villages along the Sekong River had been hit by waters 60 centimetres to one metre deep, United Nations sources said, quoting reports from the region.
Two villages were reported submerged in Sekong province and there were also reports of flooding in southernmost Attapeu province, the sources said.
Government officials had asked UN vehicles to help evacuate those affected but the number of people needing help was unclear, they said.
Earlier Wednesday a government spokesman said there were no immediate reports of casualties in Laos, one of Asia's poorest countries.
The affected provinces in Laos are just west of the hardest-hit parts of Vietnam where Ketsana, then a typhoon, killed 55 people on Tuesday.
Laos's southern neighbour Cambodia on Wednesday reported at least 11 deaths from Ketsana.
