Several days of torrential rains caused flooding in nine Thai provinces and eight states in neighboring Malaysia, displacing thousands of people.
Similar scenes are unfolding in Indonesia’s Sumatra island, where rescue teams are struggling to reach affected areas in 12 cities and districts.
The annual monsoon season has been disrupted by tropical storms that have hit the region in recent days.
Death toll increased in Thailand
In southern Thailand, the death toll has risen sharply and officials said Friday the death toll now stood at 145.
The floods have submerged large areas and forced residents to take shelter on higher ground and rooftops.
“We will now move to the rehabilitation phase and work to bring the cities back to normal as soon as possible,” AFP news agency quoted Paradorn Praisanantakul, director of the flood relief operations centre, as saying.
Songkhla province has been hardest hit, where Songklangarind hospital officials said there was no room for bodies and refrigerated trucks were now being used.
“The mortuary capacity has exceeded capacity, so we need more,” AFP quoted a mortuary official as saying.
An AFP journalist filmed white refrigerated lorries parked outside the main hospital building.
Indonesia’s Sumatra island is most affected
In Indonesia, officials said floods and landslides in three provinces killed more than 80 people, with dozens still missing in Sumatra.
The worst damage occurred in North Sumatra, where 55 people have died and 41 are still missing, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
Central Tapnauli district reported the highest number of deaths with 34 deaths, while 33 people there remain unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, BNPB said 21 people were confirmed dead after flash floods hit several areas in West Sumatra.
Search and rescue teams are struggling to reach isolated communities where roads have been blocked by debris.
Reuters news agency reported that residents of Batang Toru – where at least 21 people were killed – had to bury some of the victims in a mass grave.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico
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