HO CHI MINH CITY: As if the spate of fatal flash floods and landslides triggered by more than a month of torrential rain was not enough, villagers in central Vietnam have a new and altogether more sinister threat to contend with — crocodiles on the loose.

Up to 5,000 of the reptiles escaped from a farm that doubles as a tourist attraction on Nov 10 after yet another deluge washed away fences, leaving them free to swim the flooded countryside.

“We have warned the villagers to be careful and asked them to call the authorities if they spot any crocodiles,” said Vo Lam Phi, governor of the Khanh Hoa province.

But the authorities, which have yet to establish how many of the 5,000 crocodiles held at the farm have escaped, are taking no chances. Soldiers, militiamen and forest rangers are tracking the crocodiles with AK-47 assault rifles. Soldiers shot and killed 11 crocodiles as they crawled up a river bank toward nearby villages, said a military spokesman.

But that still leaves many of the crocodiles from the state-owned farm “on the run” after they escaped into a stream near the farm and reached a river that flows through several villages.

Crocodiles are farmed in Vietnam for their valuable skin and their lean meat, which has become a favourite in the more exotic restaurants in Hanoi.

Flooding and typhoons that have battered northern and central Vietnam since early October have killed 211, with at least 18 perishing over the weekend alone.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service