Floods leave at least 20 dead in Thailand
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-18 17:04

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Among the worst flooding in southern Thailand in 40 years has left 20 dead, officials said Sunday, sparked landslides and causing the suspension of train service in some areas.

Rising flood waters have devastated several provinces along the border with Malaysia and the death toll is expected to rise, said Suvit Kaneelkul, chief of the southern Disaster Prevention and Rescue Center.

In the past three days, 14 people were killed and two are missing in the seven provinces on the border with Malaysia, while 6 people were killed in the province of Nakhon Srithammarat, Suvit said.

The state Thai News Agency also reported that flash floods in thirteen districts in Narathiwat province inundated the homes of 4,000 families along the Sungai Kolok River. The waters _rising as high as 1.5 meters (5 feet) in some places _ caused landslides, power outages and the suspension of train service in some areas, the agency said.

The floods, triggered by heavy rains over the past two weeks, have hit more than a million people and prompted the government on Saturday to declare seven southern provinces disaster zones.

The floods also damaged 794 roads and destroyed 1,000 houses, 121 bridges and 83 temples and mosques, he said. About 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) of rice fields as well as rubber and fruit plantations are under the water, Suvit said. The waters have also killed 2,000 head of cattle and destroyed 200 fish ponds, he said.

"The water keeps rising in the business area of Haadyai and in some areas it's up to a meter deep," said Suvit, referring to a popular tourist town in the south. "The initial estimate cost of the damage from the floods is about 1 billion baht (US$24.4 million; euro20.4 million)."