AFP
21 Oct, 2010

The death toll from floods in Thailand reached 17 on Thursday as rising waters hit the homes and livelihoods of nearly one million people and threatened to swamp parts of the capital.

Victims were swept to their deaths as heavy rains swelled rivers and reservoirs, sending water gushing through the streets and immersing huge swathes of farmland.

More than a quarter of the country has been inundated, flooding thousands of homes and leaving authorities struggling to reach people stranded in remote areas.

Thailand's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said waterlogged homes, businesses and farmland meant at least 814,406 people, or 284,389 households, had been directly affected.