Five die in flash floods in southern Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP): Five people are dead and hundreds have been evacuated from their homes after a tropical depression sparked flash floods in southern Thailand. Two boys, aged seven and nine, were swept away by floodwaters in Yala province. Three other people drowned in nearby Pattani, Songkla and Chumporn provinces after a tropical storm hit the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand late on Saturday. Floods in some districts were two meters deep, swamping farmland and causing landslides to block roads. Weather conditions have now eased, but officials have warned there are more floods to come.