Hanoi - Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least four people in northern Vietnam during the past week, officials said Thursday.

Flash floods killed two men last weekend while they were working in fields in Son La province, 200 kilometers west of Hanoi, according to Cam Tan, an official with the provincial flood and storm department.

"Heavy rains have also destroyed houses and crops worth more than 4 billion dong (240,000 dollars) in the province," Tan said.

In neighboring Lai Chau province, a flash flood killed a woman and injured two other people, said Nguyen Thi Phuong of the province's flood and storm department.

Phuong said heavy rains since the weekend have caused damage of more than 12 billion dong (714,000 dollars) to the province.

A landslide caused by heavy rain also killed a 76-year-old woman on Sunday in Lang Son province, 160 kilometers northeast of Hanoi.

The officials said it was still raining in the northern provinces, though the storms have begun to subside.

Floods and storms kill hundreds of people in Vietnam every year. More than 300 people were killed by floods and storms in Vietnam last year, including 89 killed by Typhoon Lekima and the floods it triggered.

Experts from the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Centre have predicted that Vietnam will face more storms and floods this year, including strong and dangerous ones, due to the La Nina weather phenomenon.

The first tropical storm of this year hit Vietnam in mid-April, but no one was reported killed in that storm. (dpa)