Thailand flood deaths rise to 506

Emergency officials in Thailand said the death toll from more than three months of flooding rose to 506 Sunday as waters continued to rise in Bangkok. The flooding caused by monsoons and tropical storms began in late July and has spread south to Bangkok, the Disaster Relief and Mitigation Department said. As a precaution, workers built a sandbag wall Saturday outside the Flood Relief Operations Command building, the Bangkok Postreported. Elsewhere in the city, waters are beginning to threaten bus and subway stations, China's Xinhua news agency reported. Outside the telephone company's headquarters, water was 3 feet high Saturday, the Post said. Half of the city's 50 districts have been affected by the flooding and 11,000 people were ordered from their homes beginning two weeks ago when the water began rising, the Post said. Throughout the country, some 3 million people in 64 provinces have been affected by the flooding, but recovery progress was reported in 39 northern provinces, the Post said.