HANOI, March 18 (Reuters) - A 3-year-old girl who lived near an illegal poultry slaughterhouse in Vietnam has died of H5N1 bird flu, state-run newspapers reported on Thursday.

The child from the southern province of Binh Duong was the country"e;s second fatality from the disease so far this year.

Investigators said chickens were being raised near the child"e;s home, which was 20 metres (65 ft) from an illegal poultry slaughterhouse, the newspaper Tuoi Tre said.

She was admitted to hospital a week ago, it said.

World Health Organisation statistics prior to this case showed that 58 people had died of H5N1 flu in Vietnam since 2003, second only to Indonesia, which has had 135 deaths.

Even though H5N1 transmission between people is weak experts say it continues to pose a risk, especially if it were to mix with the now dominant H1N1 swine flu virus. Such a hybrid could be both deadly and easily transmissible among humans. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Alex Richardson)