Thousands flee floods

Men push a jeep in Quezon city in the Philippines

Floods in Indonesia and the Philippines have killed more than 100 people and have left tens of thousands of others homeless.

At least 98 people have been killed in Indonesia's West Timor after heavy rains swept away their houses, the official news agency Antara reported.

Hundreds of homes have been submerged and officials are still searching for more victims and survivors as they sift through the wreckage.

Rescue efforts were being hampered by the floodwaters, up to two metres deep, which have cut off access to the area, Antara reported.

A woman clears rubbish from her shop

The floods devastated the Belu region after the Beneneai River broke its banks, carrying away the only bridge in the area.

It is not known what has happened to hundreds of farmers, in the border area with East Timor, who have been cut off by rising water levels, Belu district head Marselius Bere told Antara.

A local official said the death toll could be as high as 500.

The UN High Commissoner for Refugees (UNHCR) in East Timor said the situation was "chronic".

UNHCR said most of the victims in West Timor were East Timorese refugees - and included many children.

Thousands of refugees from East Timor had fled to the western part of the island during the spate of violence that followed the independence vote last year.

Neck-high in Manila

In the Philippine main island of Luzon, at least eight people were killed and more than 100,000 people had to flee their homes in northern provinces because of floods.

The floods: Blamed on a tropical depression

In Manila, more than 10,000 people abandoned their homes, Red Cross officials said.

Among those killed in Manila were a mother and her teenage daughter, crushed to death when a wall collapsed.

Many took shelter in schools, day-care centres and community chapels, the Office of Civil Defence said.

Some major roads were cut off and some areas also experienced power cuts.

Floodwaters from three days of heavy rain reached up to neck-level in some areas.

The weather bureau said a tropical depression was behind the heavy rain and 45km per hour winds which had hit Luzon.

Bombay affected

Flooding has also hit other areas in the region including Bombay, where six million people living in slum areas have had to shelter in rail and bus stations as waters seeped into their homes.

Police said one woman from a slum area was killed and her two children injured when part of her house collapsed.

The flood brought rail and road traffic to a halt and hundreds of thousands of commuters were stranded at stations.