Floods sever overland routes to Thailand’s south
A rescue boat and a helicopter move towards a group of stranded people in the Srinakarin district of the southern Thai province of Phattalung. SURAT THANI, Thailand: Overland routes to Thailand’s flood- hit south were severed on Tuesday after two bridges collapsed following days of torrential rain that has killed at least 25 people, including
The heaviest January rains for three decades have lashed the country’s southern neck for more than a week, affecting 1.1 million people across eleven provinces.
The unseasonal downpours have also put a dampener on Thailand’s peak tourist period, prompting cancellations on popular resort islands including Samui and Phangan.
On Tuesday morning the main road heading down Thailand’s southern neck -- Highway 4 -- was closed in Prachuab Kiri Khan province, four hours south of Bangkok.
“We stopped all vehicles from passing after two bridges collapsed on Highway 4,” a Highways Department spokesman told AFP.
Trains south have also been increasing demand on already
The death toll has crept up over roof-top level in some areas.
province became the latest victim was travelling in late Monday.
“Her family climbed to the roof of the van to avoid the water but she fell in with her mother,” relief worker Rawiroj Thammee told AFP.
“The girl was swept away... villagers found her body 200 metres from the van this morning ( Tuesday).”
January usually brings visitors pristine beaches as monsoon rains abate and temperatures ease.
But the region has been battered by what junta chief Prayut ChanO-Cha described as the heaviest January rainfall in 30 years.
Vast tracts of the south -- which is also an agricultural hub for rubber, palm oil and fruit plantations -- have been left under water while and widespread damage.
Television images have shown villagers wading through muddy with a few salvaged belongings held above their heads.
Soldiers have been deployed to provide relief packages and rescue stranded people in the worst-hit areas.
Patients were evacuated by canoes as a hospital was swamped with waters in Prachuab province.
The rain is forecast to slacken over the next 24 hours.
The court hearing South Korean President Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment trial on Tuesday dismissed as “unsatisfactory” attempts to explain her whereabouts during the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster.
Parliament voted to impeach peddling scandal that has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets every week demanding her removal.
At the time of the vote lawmakers also said allegations that Park - ties as the head of state during the ferry sinking were also grounds for
The Constitutional Court last month urged Park’s defence counsel to clarify the mystery surrounding her seven-hour absence during the disaster that claimed more than 300 lives, mostly school children.
suggested a wide range of theories about her whereabouts, including a romantic liaison, participation in a shamanistic ritual, cosmetic surgery or a 90-minute hair styling.
Park’s lawyers said Tuesday that she had felt unwell on the morning of the disaster and stayed at - - both within the presidential Blue House complex.
They submitted documents to the Constitutional Court showing timelines of her receiving reports by phone or from her aides about the disaster and issuing directives.
But Justice Lee Jin-Sung, one of the nine members of the court, told Park’s legal team that the timelines failed to clarify exactly learn about the sinking.
“The answer from the president’s side fell short of expectations and was somewhat unsatisfactory”, Lee was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
Lee noted that TV channels broke the story just after 9:00 a.m. local time and said Park should clarify whether or not she was watching the news at the time.
“( Park) received numerous phone calls from the chief of the orders,” Lee Joong-hwan, a lawyer representing Park, told reporters on the sidelines of the hearing. “She took appropriate steps.” However, representatives from parliament told the hearing that neither the top national security advisor nor the chief of the presidential secretariat knew where Park was at the time of the disaster.
“The president’s inactivity was in breach of the victims’ rights to life and their relatives’ rights to pursue happiness,” they told the court. “She must be deprived of her presidency immediately.”
Park is accused of colluding with a longtime friend, Choi Soon-Il, to strong-arm donations worth tens of millions of dollars from top to dubious foundations.
Should the Constitutional Court next presidential election would have to take place within 60 days from the court’s ruling.