Vietnam digs out from Typhoon Mirinae

PHY YEN, Vietnam, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Food, shelter and medical assistance are urgently needed by victims of Typhoon Mirinae, Vietnamese leaders said Sunday.

Merchants were urged not to raise food prices in areas hard hit by the storm and to assist authorities in feeding the hungry, Party General-Secretary Nong Duc Manh told Vietnam News Agency.

Manh and Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai spoke with reporters after touring Phy Yen, the home of 73 of the 116 people killed during the typhoon.

The two leaders urged local authorities to continue looking for missing people and to assist in burying the dead. Local officials were urged to move quickly to prevent outbreaks of disease and to repair schools so children could return to their studies, Manh said.

The typhoon destroyed an estimated 1,300 homes and damaged 83,000 other houses. Thousands of acres of rice also were destroyed. As of Sunday, an estimated 21 tons of relief supplies had been delivered to residents in Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces.