Rescuers were trying to save workers washed away by the rains.
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Nguyen Van Ty / AP
Nine members of a rescue team were found dead after trying to rescue workers swept away by a landslide in central Vietnam, local authorities said Thursday.
The workers were employed by a hydroelectric power station.
According to a government website, 17 workers at the plant are missing as a result of the landslide and the body of another worker has been found.
Catastrophic flooding and rain-induced landslides in the region have killed at least 40 people over the past week, local officials say, who predict the bad weather will persist.
Official media released images showing hundreds of soldiers digging through the mud with construction machinery in an attempt to free any survivors.
More than 200,000 submerged homes
Entire villages were submerged in the central provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Nam, while the waters spilled into the former imperial capital of Hue and the tourist town of Hoi An over the weekend.
In total, nearly a million people were affected by the rains and more than 200,000 homes submerged.
Vietnam frequently faces very difficult weather conditions during the rainy season, between June and November, with the central coast regions being the most vulnerable.
Last year, 132 people died or went missing due to natural disasters in Vietnam, according to the General Bureau of Statistics.
Neighboring Cambodia was also severely affected, particularly the northwest of the country.
Thirteen people died there, including five children, according to the National Center for Disaster Management.
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