HANOI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Talas, which hit Vietnam's central provinces Monday, has left eight people dead and four others missing.

Talas was the second tropical storm the country has faced so far this year.

It has also caused 175 houses to collapse, ripped roofs off nearly 6,200 houses, sank 57 fishing ships and boats, damaged roads and bridges, the Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control told Xinhua on Thursday.

In the first half of the year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed or left missing 27 people, injured 30 others, damaged 5,900 houses and inundated 11,400 hectares of crops, causing property losses of over 433 billion Vietnamese dong (19.2 million U.S. dollars), said the country's General Statistics Office.