Mekong floods worsen

Children in Long An province of Vietnam find a dry berth

Aid officials are warning that the Mekong River is still rising as the death toll from the floods increases.

Officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross say the number of people who have died in southern Vietnam has now risen to 22.

As many as 100,000 have been evacuated and rescue workers say roads in the Mekong Delta are fast becoming waterlogged which is hampering relief efforts.

In Cambodia - which has also been badly hit - officials say the situation remains serious with the capital, Phnom Penh, close to being inundated.

UN experts say the floods, which have also affected Laos and Thailand are the worst in the region for 70 years and will not subside until November.

Rescue workers in Vietnam say the increase in the water level has been more rapid than they anticipated.

The water level is now within 20cm (eight inches) of that recorded during the catastrophic floods of 1961.

Within the last three days, the number of flooded houses has doubled and many roads in the delta region are now only passable by four-wheel drive vehicles.

Monks pick their way through flooded streets near Phnom Penh

In addition, there is now minor flooding in the capitals of the three worst affected provinces - Long An, Dong Thap and An Giang.

Reports from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, say that flood levels there are about 30cm (12 inches) below the point at which the centre of the city would become inundated.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to move though aid workers in the city say that so far the dykes around the capital seem to be holding.

Some of the city's one million residents have been preparing for the worst.

Flooded roads on the Cambodia Vietnam border

They have been stocking up on food supplies, despite appeals from the authorities to stop panic buying.

The Red Cross is launching a new appeal for emergency aid to help the victims.

Red Cross spokesman John Geoghegan said the Red Cross would be meeting donors to try to raise $1.5m to supplement Vietnam's own $2m relief efforts.

The Red Cross says the unusually widespread monsoon floods have deluged nearly 800,000 sq km of land in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.