A large boulder dislodged by prolonged heavy rain struck a moving car on a national highway in Son La Province on the morning of July 9, leaving the driver with minor injuries and disrupting traffic.
The incident occurred at about 7 am on National Highway 279D at Cao Pha Pass in Muong Bu Commune, when a rock weighing an estimated several dozen tonnes broke away from a mountainside and crashed onto the road.
The boulder shattered into several pieces on impact, with one large fragment crushing the front of a passing car.
The driver, who was the only person in the vehicle, sustained minor injuries and was taken to a medical facility for treatment.
The landslide caused lengthy traffic congestion in both directions on National Highway 279D, an important route linking several northern mountainous provinces.
Local authorities in Muong Bu Commune said heavy rain was continuing and machinery had been deployed to break up the rock and clear the road. However, the size of the boulder has complicated recovery efforts.
The Vietnam Road Administration said that by 8.30 am, heavy rainfall had also caused traffic disruptions at five other locations along National Highway 279 and Provincial Road DT103B in Son La Province.
Persistent rain over the past three days across northern Vietnam's mountainous region has caused widespread damage. According to the Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention and Control, three houses collapsed and another 24 were damaged.
In Lai Chau Province, about 40 hectares of rice fields and crops, 76 hectares of fish ponds and 17 head of livestock were affected.
Landslides have also disrupted transport on sections of National Highway 279 in Dien Bien Province, National Highway 4D in Lai Chau Province, as well as numerous provincial, inter-commune and rural roads.
The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said rainfall between 7 am on July 8 and 7 am on July 9 reached 181 mm in Lao Cai Province, 162 mm in Son La Province, and 147 mm in Dien Bien Province.
The weather agency warned that over the next six hours there would be a Level 1 risk of flash floods along small rivers and streams and landslides on steep slopes across hundreds of communes and wards in Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen and Lang Son provinces.
