At around 8:15 a.m., the family felt the house tilt sharply and ran outside. About 15 minutes later, it toppled into the stream.
The house stood on a branch of the Nam Lum Stream in Giao Chan Hamlet, Khong Lao Commune. Three days of rain had raised the stream, and its current steadily cut into the foundation, a commune People's Committee official said.
Floodwaters send a two-story house collapsing into a stream in Lao Cai Province on the morning of July 8, 2026. Photo courtesy of Khong Lao Commune People's Committee
Rain across Lai Chau on July 6-7, driven by a low-pressure trough, damaged 24 houses and flooded nearly 10 hectares of rice and vegetable crops. Another 11 hectares of crops and 0.8 hectares of aquaculture were ruined, the province's Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention said.
Landslides blocked stretches of National Highways 4D, 4H and 12 as heavy rains affected many parts of the northern region.
