The death toll following flooding and landslides in Indonesia and Thailand has risen to more than 600 – with nearby Sri Lanka also reporting more than 200 deaths after a cyclone.
Three people have also died in Malaysia, officials have said, due to the extreme weather in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
In total, Indonesian officials said 442 people had died and Thai authorities reported 170 deaths in the southern part of the country, as of midday UK time on Sunday.
People move a car damaged by floods in Songkhla province, Southern Thailand. Pic: AP
Rescuers search for flood victims in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Pic: AP
Rescue efforts were ongoing throughout the day, with more than four million people affected – almost three million in Southern Thailand and 1.1 million in Western Indonesia – by the effects of a tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait.
Indonesian relief and rescue teams have used helicopters to deliver aid to people they could not access because of blocked roads on the western island of Sumatra.
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a landslide in Adiankoting, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Pic: AP
Many areas have been cut off, while damage to telecommunications infrastructure has hampered communications.
Officials said on Saturday that they had received reports of people looting supply lines as they grow desperate for relief in other areas.
Hat Yai, the largest city in Thailand’s Songkhla province, received 335mm (13 inches) of rain on Friday last week, its highest single-day tally in 300 years.
After days of rain, meteorological authorities in Malaysia lifted tropical storm and continuous rain warnings there yesterday, forecasting clear skies for most of the country.
However, there are still about 18,700 people in evacuation centres, according to the country’s national disaster management agency.
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A road heavily damaged by a flash flood in Bireun, Aceh province, Indonesia. Pic: AP
A soldier uses ropes to cross a river during a search operation in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Pic: AP
More than 200 dead in Sri Lanka
Across the Bay of Bengal, Sri Lanka’s disaster management centre said in a situation report on Sunday that 212 people had died as a result of Cyclone Ditwah.
Another 218 people have been recorded as missing across the South Asian country’s 25 districts, and more than half a million people have been affected nationwide.
