Hanoi, Sep 14 (IANS): Typhoon Yagi and the consequent landslides and floods have left 254 dead and 82 missing in Vietnam's northern region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

Lao Cai, Cao Bang and Yen Bai have been the hardest-hit provinces with fatalities climbing to 111, 43 and 49, respectively, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The Red river floodwater in the capital Hanoi has decreased to below the alert level 1 out of 3, according to the city's Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention, Control, Search and Rescue.

Evacuated people have returned to their houses, while forces have been mobilised to clean up flooded areas.

The northeastern province of Quang Ninh will initiate a three-day clean-up campaign for the storm-battered UNESCO World Heritage of Ha Long Bay.

The heritage officially resumed normal operation of tourist boats on Friday, nearly a week after being ravaged by the typhoon, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front has announced that as of Friday noon, its relief fund has received 775.5 billion ($31.5 million) of donation from people across the country to support those affected by Typhoon Yagi.

Hundreds of thousands of children have lost their homes and are lacking access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare, the UN children's agency (Unicef) said in a statement.

Nearly two million children have been left without access to education, psychosocial support and school feeding programmes as schools have been damaged and hit by power and water shortages, it added.