week, killing more than 300 people and leaving thousands stranded, many on rooftops awaiting rescue. On Friday, rescuers in Indonesia were struggling to reach the worst-affected areas of Sumatra island, while workers at a hospital in southern Thailand moved bodies into refrigerated trucks after the morgue exceeded capacity. The water level reached three metres (9.8 feet) in southern Thailand's Songkhla province and killed at least 145 people in one of the worst floods in a decade. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited a shelter for evacuees in hard-hit Hat Yai district on Friday.

"I really have to apologise to them for letting this happen during the time I am in government," he told reporters in footage broadcast on AmarinTV. "The next step is to prevent the situation from deteriorating," he added, announcing a two-week timeframe for the district's cleanup. The Thai government rolled out relief measures for those affected by the flooding, including compensation of up to two million baht (USD 62,000) for households that lost family members. (Bssnews)