Nigeria has extended condolences to Vietnam following the devastation caused by Typhoon Kajiki, which has left at least eight people dead in Vietnam and Thailand and displaced thousands more.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja expressed “deepest condolences and heartfelt solidarity” with the government and people of Vietnam, especially families who lost loved ones. It praised the Vietnamese authorities for their swift emergency response and voiced confidence in the nation’s resilience to recover from the disaster.
The ministry noted that the typhoon caused landslides in central Vietnam, destroying homes and public infrastructure.
“We are confident in the strength of the Vietnamese people, as well as their capacity to overcome this adversity and rebuild their communities,” the spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, said.
Kajiki made landfall in Vietnam on Monday before weakening into a depression, but its heavy rains have continued to batter parts of Southeast Asia. Vietnamese officials reported that seven people were killed in the country, while one death was confirmed in Thailand.
More than 10,000 houses and offices have been damaged in Vietnam, along with 86 hectares of crops. Power outages have directly affected 1.6 million people in Ha Tinh and Nghe An provinces, while flooded streets in Hanoi have disrupted preparations for next week’s National Day parade marking 80 years of independence.
In Thailand, floods and landslides have hit eight provinces, affecting more than 180 households, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Vietnam’s weather agency has warned that heavy rain will persist in northern provinces, with some areas likely to record up to 70 millimetres in just a few hours. It cautioned that flash floods and mudslides remain a serious threat to lives and livelihoods.
Before reaching Vietnam, the storm brushed past China’s southern island of Hainan, where the resort city of Sanya was forced to shut businesses and suspend public transport.