Over 100 feared dead after Thai floods

'PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE': Rescue teams were pulling bodies from the wreckage of villages after unseasonally early rains caused mudslides and floods in the north Relief teams yesterday pulled more corpses from receding floodwaters in northern Thailand, where officials fear about 100 people were killed in floods and mudslides. "One hundred dead is our preliminary estimate, but we are still receiving reports of missing people," Suksan Wanaputi, acting governor of the hardest-hit province of Uttaradit, said. Mudslides blocked roads to Lab Lae district, where many of the victims are believed to have been swept away by the flood-waters or buried in the mud after the mudslides in the mountainous region, he said. Up to 2m of water still covered the streets in parts of the province, he added. So far about 30 bodies had been pulled from the mud and water that covered roads and homes, while 77 people were reported missing and feared dead, the disaster management agency said. "We think that the number of dead and missing are likely to rise," a disaster official said. The nearby provinces of Nan, Phrae, Lampang and Sukhothai were also hit by the floods after unusually early monsoon rains drenched northern Thailand at the weekend. Some 1,200 people have been evacuated, while more than 75,000 have suffered damage either to their homes or their farms, the disaster agency said. At least 168 homes were destroyed in the floods, while 25 schools, temples or government buildings were damaged, it added. Some 1,000 people who had been stranded at the Den Chai train station in Phrae Province were rescued late on Tuesday and brought to Bangkok, the State Railway of Thailand said. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/25/2003309988