Flooding in Bangkok

Press, 10 October 1978, Page 6

Flooding in Bangkok

NZPA-Reuter Bangkok]: Floods hit Bangkok yesterday but waters in the; northern, north-eastern, and central part of the country were receding. The swollen Chao Phya River met incoming high tides and spilled over its banks in the capital, flooding some low-lying areas, including the city’s busy Chinatown district. A system of dykes and pumping stations prevented floodwaters from reaching most of the main parts of Bangkok. As the floodwaters dispersed in the north rescue workers found the bodies of

I six persons in Roi Et Provs ince bringing the death toll in the floods to more than 96. In Cambodia, also badly hit by floods, Phnom Penh Radio reported that troops were guarding ricefields along the border with Vietnam to prevent Vietnamese forces from pillaging the rice crop. Cambodia, Vietnam, and ■ Laos also have all suffered serious rice crop losses, and Vietnam and Laos have appealed for international aid. The northern Philippines, battered by several storms in : the last month, yesterday was warned that Typhoon Nina

was roaring in from th Pacific with centre winds o 110 km/h. Some roads in th capital, Manila, had alread been flooded by advano rains.

In Thailand, more tha: 324,000 hectares of riceland have been under water for • week.

Mr Anand Anandakul, th Deputy Under-Secretary o the Interior Ministry, sai> that the Prime Minister (M Kriangsak Chamanand) ha, ordered unlimited assistanc be provided to flood victim-

Almost half a rnillio people were evacuated fror their homes at the height c the floods.