Heavy rain in Da Lat caused flooding that swept away and killed a priest Sunday afternoon.

Tran Van Dinh, 68, slipped when he was working with some others to clear garbage that had been pushed around and onto a bridge by a two-hour downpour, blocking traffic.

A flash flood swept him to a lake more than 100 meters away.

Locals rushed him to hospital, but he died soon afterwards.

The floods inundated many houses in town, some under 60 centimeters of water.

It caused a stream running through vegetable fields in town to suddenly rise, depositing mud on around 50 hectares of crops.

Farmers said the flash flood had been the strongest in a decade.