Countries in southeast Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, have witnessed deaths of more than 250 people between November 17 and 28 due to catastrophic floods triggered by constant rainfall, officials confirmed on Saturday.
With death toll mounting, search and rescue operations continue as persistent rainfall has led to flooding in nine Thai provinces and eight states in neighbouring Malaysia, displacing thousands of people.
In Thailand alone, authorities said there are at least 145 people dead, as on Friday.
Indonesia’s Sumatra Island too witnessed similar scenes, with authorities battling to reach the worst-affected 12 cities and districts.
Officials said that flooding and landslides in three provinces claimed the lives of more than 80 people, with dozens still missing in Sumatra.
Also Read: 17 dead in Sumatra landslides, flash floods
Meanwhile, the Central Tapanuli district suffered the heaviest toll with 34 deaths, while 33 people are still missing.
The worst affected area in the Sumatra region alone reported “55 deaths with 41 still missing” in the aftermath of the devastating floods, said the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
Similarly, in West Sumatra, 21 people were confirmed dead following flash floods across several areas, the BNPB added.
The annual monsoon season this year has been exacerbated by a tropical storm in the region in the past few days.
The director of the flood and relief operations centre in Thailand said” “The rehabilitation phase and work to restore cities to normal has been taken up on an immediate basis.”
He added that in the hardest-hit Songkhla province, there is no more room in the hospital compound for more bodies to be refrigerated.
Search and rescue teams have been struggling to reach isolated communities where debris have blocked key roads.
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