Vietnam, on Thursday, found two more bodies of local people in northern Lao Cai province killed by a big landslide, raising the death tolls to 17, according to local newspaper Saigon Liberation on Friday.

The landslide caused by torrential rain on Sept. 13 in Bat Xat district also left six people missing who have a slim chance of survival, pulled down four houses, and destroyed more than five hectares of rice, causing an estimated property loss of about 700 million Vietnamese dong (VND) (US$44,500).

Local rescuers have kept on searching for the missing and evacuating affected households to safe areas. Lao Cai will build houses for the victims' families.

Natural disasters claimed 7,760 human lives and caused total losses of 40 trillion VND (US$2.5 billion) in Vietnam between1996 and 2002, according to the country's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2004)