Landslides triggered by heavy rain in Vietnam have killed at least six people and injured more than a dozen, disaster agency officials said Monday, as the country’s flood-hit central belt endured relentless precipitation.

A passenger bus was submerged by falling soil and rock in the scenic Khanh Le Pass in Khanh Hoa province late Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring 18 others, according to the disaster and dyke management authority.

The bus was carrying 32 passengers, state media said Monday, with some of the injured being treated for head and limb injuries at a local hospital.

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Rescuers were racing to free some passengers trapped inside the bus, state media said.

Earlier Sunday, a landslide struck a workers’ shelter in Khanh Son Pass in Khanh Hoa, killing one person and leaving another missing, according to the disaster authority.

Natural disasters have left 279 people dead or missing this year and caused more than $2 billion in damage, according to Vietnam’s national statistics office.

The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientific evidence has identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive.

AFP