Two elephants have died after a sanctuary was flooded in the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai. Fah Sai and Ploy Thong were swept away by floodwaters as rescuers worked to evacuate the animals from the shelter. Their bodies were later found roughly five kilometres downstream, amidst a pile of debris.

Two rescued elephants died by drowning at a tourist hotspot in Thailand despite efforts to get the stranded animals out after it was flooded by rapid currents. Faa Sai, a blind female elephant, and Ploy Thong, also a female, were confirmed dead following the “catastrophic flooding”, the Elephant National Park in Chiang Mai said.