Torrential monsoon rains in South-East Asia have triggered floods and landslides, killing at least 20 people and displacing thousands, officials said today.

Six people were killed in flash floods in north-western Vietnam, while 13 people have died in Indonesia’s Ambon City and Gorontalo Province on Sulawesi since last week.

One person was killed in a landslide in Chiang Rai, 700km north of Bangkok.

In Ambon, the capital of Indonesia’s Maluku Province, rescuers were searching for five people still missing after floods and landslides killed nine people yesterday.

About 3,000 people were displaced and 80 homes were heavily damaged, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency.

“Rain is still falling so there’s still risk of further flooding,” Nugroho said.

Floods and landslides also hit Lampung province on Sumatra island and Gorontalo, killing four people, with three still missing since last week.

In Vietnam, one person was missing after flash floods, according to the Central Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control.

The fatalities included a farmer who drowned while collecting driftwood in a stream and a 22-year-old man who was swept away by raging floodwaters as he drove home.

The floods destroyed more than 200 houses, damaged 3,700 hectares of rice and vegetables, and killed 143 cattle. The damage was estimated at US$5 million, the Vietnamese authorities said.

Meanwhile, the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge over the Moei River, which defines the border, has been closed to trade since Monday when the town of Mae Sot received a record 191mm of rainfall, the Disaster Relief Department said.

The Moei River overflowed, inundating Mae Sot, 390km north-west of Bangkok, and Myawadi, the town on the Myanmar side of the border.

The Mae Sot border crossing is a major artery for trade between Thailand and Myanmar, accounting for about 300 million baht (US$9.6 million) a day in goods, The Nation newspaper reported.

Seven of Thailand’s northern provinces have experienced flooding this week, including Tak, where Mae Sot is located.

- dpa