Thailand floods kill 70

Some 50 houses are thought to have been destroyed

Emergency workers in northern Thailand have been clearing away debris in the search for victims of Saturday's devastating floods, which are so far known to have claimed almost 70 lives.

At first I thought it was the sound of lightning

Villager

Dozens of people are still listed as missing, after flash floods and landslides swept away a number of villages in the province of Phetchabun, 300 km (186 miles) north of the capital, Bangkok, before dawn as inhabitants slept.

Local authorities said that though water levels had now receded relief work was being hampered by debris which had swept down mountainsides.

In recent days there has been widespread flooding across Thailand's north and east, forcing the closure of schools and the evacuation of several villages.

Flash floods are common during the rainy season from June to October, but correspondents say the situation has been made worse by the effects of massive deforestation.

The unseasonably wet weather has been caused by Typhoon Usagi, which has left tens of thousands of people homeless and at least three dead in neighbouring Vietnam.

'Elephant's scream'

The authorities in Phetchabun's Lom Sak district said flood waters and mudslides from the Khor mountain hit seven villages situated in the valley below at about 0400 local time (2100 GMT).

Prime Minister Shinawatra surveyed the devastation

Local residents said they heard sounds "like an elephant screaming".

"At first I thought it was the sound of lightning," villager Buapha Sanguansilpa told the Bangkok Post.

Emergency services said some of the dead were children as young as two years old.

"The figure isn't surprising since the flood came while they were sleeping and was too strong for women and children," one official said.

Some 50 houses in the seven villages are thought to have been destroyed.

Deforestation

According to a statement from the Interior Ministry's civil defence department the villages had been submerged under 2 metres (6.5 feet) of water.

The rainy season in Thailand lasts from June to October and floods are an annual problem.

In recent years, massive deforestation has eroded the top soil and stripped the vegetation that helps prevent landslides and floods.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, visiting the region on Sunday, said that in future water flow routes would be identified and villages built elsewhere, to prevent a repeat of the devastation.