ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - At least 72 people were killed in flash floods after an intense, sudden downpour pounded eastern Ethiopia, many of the victims swept away while asleep, medical officials and rescue workers have said.

Red Cross officials said the death toll could be much higher. They said police and rescue workers were scouring villages in search of survivors and bodies.

BEIJING (AFP) - Tropical storm Prapiroon swept across south China, leaving a trail of destruction with more than 70 people reported dead or missing.

Prapiroon -- aptly named after the Thai god of rain -- had killed 57 and another 16 were missing, the China News Service said, citing preliminary statistics from local governments.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Another 16 people were reported killed in floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in southern India, taking the toll in the past five days to 62, officials have said.

The Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh rose 10 feet (three metres) above the danger mark, prompting authorities to move about 14,000 families to relief camps, the Press Trust of India quoted unnamed officials as saying Sunday.