Death Toll From Thai Floods Hits 100

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Death toll from Thai floods hits 100

BANGKOK, October 30, 2010 (AFP) - The death toll from severe floods in Thailand has risen to 100, including at least three foreigners, although the waters have receded in some areas, officials said Saturday.

Six more people have died in the disaster, which began on October 10, the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand said in its daily update.

Among them was a 38-year-old Dutchman, named as Harald Vusser, who was electrocuted or drowned in Ayutthaya province just north of Bangkok on Friday, it said.

Local media reported he was helping his Thai wife move her belongings to a dry place.

The other foreign victims were a 44-year-old Cambodian woman who was killed in a mudslide earlier this month on Koh Chang island in Trat province, and a two-year-old Myanmar boy who drowned in Phathum Thani.

Authorities said that while 22 of Thailand's 76 provinces were still flooded, the waters have receded in 16 others.

The authorities estimate that about five million people have been affected, with homes submerged and farmland or cattle destroyed, mostly in central and eastern areas, although life is slowly returning to normal for some.

Tens of thousands of people have sought medical treatment, mostly for itchy skin, common colds and stress.

Nakhon Ratchasima, a large mountainous province about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Bangkok, is the worst affected with 18 deaths and about 40 centimetres (16 inches) of rain this month.

Nakhon Sawan and Lopburi just north of the capital have also been badly hit.

Bangkok has been on standby with thousands of sandbags and pumps as flood water from the north runs downstream and could coincide with high tide.

So far the capital has avoided major flooding, although more than 1,000 homes along the Chao Phraya have been partially submerged.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-10-30

[Bkkboet]

RIP Harald mate. A tragic accident. You were a great friend with a heart as big as the vast oceans you sailed.

[hayden5650]

My prayers are with Harald's family.