The entire 16-strong crew of a sunken fishing boat was rescued by Brunei marines off the Hoang Sa archipelago at 17h on October 19, reported the rescue force.

The Hoa Hai boat, captained by Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, was broken by typhoon Megi and lost contact with land.

The news was confirmed by Ly Son island authorities in the central province of Quang Ngai later in the day, who said Captain Sinh had telephoned his family about his and the crew members’ survival.

However, information on the whereabouts of the rescued fishermen has not yet been released.

The Hoa Hai boat was just one of eight fishing boats stranded in dangerous waters.

The provincial border guards command reported that so far about 411 fishing boats remained operating offshore, saying they have been resorting to all means to connect with and locate these fishing boats.

With typhoon Megi sweeping the central region since October 13, death tolls reached 36 on October 19.

Almost 200,000 homes have been inundated, over 8,000 ha of rice fields, 38,000 ha of crops and almost 40,000 tonnes of food in stores have been either flooded or swept away.

Domestic and international efforts have been increasing to alleviate the plight of typhoon victims.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent (IFRC) has released an urgent call to raise 1,034,754 Swiss Francs (roughly 1.08 million USD) as relief aid to flood victims in central Vietnam .

Pascal Bourcher, IFRC Aid Programme Director in Vietnam , has called for urgent aid to victims who have become homeless and hungry as well as lost their means of earnings such as crops and animal stocks.

In response, the Spanish Red Cross Association has joined an international independent evaluation mission, including Oxfam, Care and Paccom, to pay a fieldtrip to Ha Tinh, one of the worst-hit provinces.

The Vietnamese Red Cross has also sent a delegation to the devastated province of Quang Binh to survey the urgent needs of the victims.

The Vietnam Red Cross Association President, Tran Ngoc Tang, said the association has sent supplies to 12,000 victim families, which however fell far behind demand by people in flood areas.

“The Vietnamese people badly need international assistance,” urged the chief humanitarian activist.

The association on October 18 sent the third batch of urgent aid worth over 2.1 billion VND (roughly 107,000 USD) in cash and kind to typhoon Megi victims in the three central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh. The aid included 350 million VND in cash, 3,000 barrels of water-purifying pills, 50 tents and 3,600 barrels of daily necessities.

The Vietnamese communities in Laos and South Africa have also joined hands in the campaign.

The Vietnamese Laotians in Khammuon province have raised 70 million VND for flood victims in the central region.

The Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese Community Federation in Laos have also raised over 170 million VND for their flood-hit patriots.

The Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa has donated 5,000 Rand (roughly 700 USD) for flood victims in Quang Binh province.

The Prime Minister has signed decisions to aid disaster victims in the central region.

One of the decisions allowed the allocation of 70 billion VND from the 2010 Central Hedge Fund and free supply of 3,000 tonnes of rice for flood victims in the three central provinces .

The Ministry of Finance has been assigned to allocate 20 billion VND to buy seedlings, domestic animals and aquatic breeds to help recover production in flood areas.

In addition, the Prime Minister has entrusted the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to supply free 2,800 tonnes of rice seedlings, 200 tonnes of maize seedlings and 110 tonnes of vegetable seedlings for 15 provinces hit by the recent natural disasters, including the three central provinces hit by typhoon Megi./.