Among the worst flooding in southern Thailand in 40 years has left 20 dead, officials said Sunday, sparked landslides and causing the suspension of train service in some areas. Rising flood waters have devastated several provinces along the border with Malaysia and the death toll is expected to rise, said Suvit Kaneelkul, chief of the southern Disaster Prevention and Rescue Center. In the past three days, 14 people were killed and two are missing in the seven provinces on the border with Malaysia, while 6 people were killed in the province of Nakhon Srithammarat, Suvit said. The state Thai News Agency also reported that flash floods in thirteen districts in Narathiwat province inundated the homes of 4,000 families along the Sungai Kolok River. The waters _rising as high as 1.5 meters (5 feet) in some places _ caused landslides, power outages and the suspension of train service in some areas, the agency said. The floods, triggered by heavy rains over the past two weeks, have hit more than a million people and prompted the government on Saturday to declare seven southern provinces disaster zones.
