Hanoi, Aug. 1 -- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed an official dispatch on August 1, calling for swift recovery efforts in flood-ravaged Dien Bien province and preparedness to respond to landslides and flash floods across northern mountainous and midland regions. The disaster struck in the early hours of August 1, when torrential rains pounded several northern provinces, including Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, and Quang Ninh, with several areas recording nearly 300 millimetres of rainfall within just six hours. Flash floods and landslides claimed three lives, left nine others missing, and damaged 10 houses and roads in Tia Dinh and Xa Dung communes in Dien Bien province. In Son La province, heavy rainfall led...