The death toll rose sharply in southern Thailand, with at least 145 now reported dead.
People walk past damaged houses at a village affected by flooding in Malalak, West Sumatra, Indonesia
Officials in Indonesia say flooding and landslides claimed the lives of more than 80 people with dozens still missing on Sumatra.Image: Ade Yuandha/AP Photo/picture alliance
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The number of deaths caused by flooding in Southeast Asia has risen to more than 250, with more deaths reported in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Days of torrential rain led to flooding in nine Thai provinces and eight states in neighboring Malaysia, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Similar scenes are playing out in Indonesia’s Sumatra island, where rescue teams are battling to reach affected areas in 12 cities and districts.
The annual monsoon season has been exacerbated by a tropical storm in the region in recent days.
An aerial view shows homes surrounded by flood waters in Kangar in northern Malaysia’s Perlis state on November 28, 2025
The annual monsoon season has been exacerbated by a tropical storm in the region in recent daysImage: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images
Thailand death toll rises
In southern Thailand, the death toll rose sharply with authorities saying Friday that the number of dead now stood at 145,.
Floods have submerged large areas and forced residents to seek shelter on higher ground and rooftops.
“We will now move into the rehabilitation phase and work to restore cities to normal as quickly as possible,” the AFP news agency quoted Paradorn Prissananantakul, the director of the flood relief operations center, as saying.
People clear mud and debris from their houses in a flooded area in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province, Thailand
Thailand’s Songkha province has been among the hardest hitImage: Athit Perawongmetha/REUTERS
The hardest-hit has been Songkhla province, where authorities at the Songklanagarind Hospital said there was no more room for bodies and that refrigerated trucks were now being used.
“The morgue has exceeded its capacity, so we need more,” AFP quoted a morgue official as saying.
An AFP journalist filmed white refrigerated lorries parked outside the hospital’s main building.
Situation in flood-hit Thailand, Malaysia remains critical
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Indonesia’s Sumatra island among the worst hit
In Indonesia, officials said flooding and landslides in three provinces claimed the lives of more than 80 people, with dozens still missing on Sumatra.
The worst losses have occurred in North Sumatra, where 55 deaths were reported and 41 people are still missing, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
The Central Tapanuli district suffered the heaviest toll with 34 deaths, while 33 people there have not been found.
Meanwhile, in West Sumatra, 21 people were confirmed dead following flash floods in a number of areas, the BNPB said.
Search and rescue teams have been battling to reach isolated communities where debris has caused roads to become blocked.
The Reuters news agency reported that residents in Batang Toru — where at least 21 people died — had to bury some victims in a mass grave.
