Flash floods kill 22 in north Thailand

By Staff and wire reports

BANGKOK, Thailand -- At least 22 people drowned when flash floods caused by two days of monsoon rains swept through Thailand's northern Phrae Province.

Interior Ministry officials said more than 30 other villagers were missing after a wave of muddy water smashed into hundreds of rural homes shortly after midnight.

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Relief officials had recovered 22 bodies so far and were trying to find others. Over 600 houses were damaged by surging water with dozens completely destroyed.

A weather bureau official said accumulated rainfall over the last few days in the province, 620 kilometers north of Bangkok, had risen to about 285 mm (11 inch) early on Friday from 67 mm (3 inch) on Wednesday.

Traders said no major Thai crops were damaged in the floods.

Thai local news organization reported Wang Chin District Chief Veerachai Sirisant said relief workers had been dispatched to provide assistance in evacuation of people from affected villages, some of them under two-meter-deep floodwater.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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