100 dead in Thailand floods

More than 100 people were feared dead today as searchers recovered corpses from a sea of mud spawned by flash floods in northern Thailand, local officials said.

Rescue teams in helicopters or on foot tried to reach thousands of people stranded in their houses, on trains and in open terrain devastated by floods triggered by days of heavy rain across several northern provinces.

The official toll stood at 26 people dead and 92 missing, but Boonriang Chuchai-saengrat, chief health officer of Uttaradit province, said that more than 100 had died in his province alone.

He appealed to government authorities to set up a disaster identification centre like one established following the Asian tsunami to record unclaimed bodies and temporarily bury corpses for later identification.

“The search and rescue operation was suspended last night due to low light and will resume today once the sun rises. I hope to have a clearer number of the dead,” said Saman Pangwatcharakorn chief of the regional Disaster Prevention and Rescue Centre early Wednesday.

Among the heaviest-hit areas was Lablae district of Uttaradit province where dozens of houses were engulfed in mud, their residents trapped within. Others were stranded on the roofs of their houses or in trees.

Uttaradit is about 420kms north of Bangkok.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who resumed his official duties Tuesday after a seven-week leave of absence, was scheduled to inspect the disaster scene today.