HANOI, Vietnam, Sept 9, (AP): A bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding Monday as more rain fell on northern Vietnam from a former typhoon that has caused at least 59 deaths in the Southeast Asian country, state media reported. Nine people died during the typhoon, which made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday before weakening to a depression, and 50 others died during the consequent floods and landslides.

The water levels of several rivers in northern Vietnam were dangerously high. A passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province Monday morning. Rescuers were deployed but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place. In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed Monday morning.

Reports said 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to the hospital, but 13 others were missing. Pham Truong Son, 50, told VNExpress that he was driving on the bridge on his motorcycle when he heard a loud noise. Before he knew what was happening, he was falling into the river.

"I felt like I was drowned to the bottom of the river,” Son told the newspaper, adding that he managed to swim and hold on to a drifting banana tree to stay afloat before he was rescued. Typhoon Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam in decades when it made landfall Saturday with winds up to 149 kph (92 mph).

It weakened to a tropical depression Sunday, but the country’s meteorological agency has still warned the continuing downpours could cause floods and landslides. On Sunday, a landslide killed six people including an infant and injured nine others in Sa Pa town, a popular trekking base known for its terraced rice fields and mountains. Overall, state media reported 21 deaths and at least 299 people injured from the weekend.