Myanmar troops help flood rescue after landslide kills 48

Myanmar troops deployed to flood-hit parts of the country on Sunday to help with relief efforts after the death toll from a deadly landslide jumped to 48.

Every year monsoon rains hammer Myanmar and other countries across Southeast Asia, submerging homes, displacing thousands and triggering landslides.

But the disaster Friday in southeastern Mon state was the worst in recent memory and hundreds of emergency response workers were still pulling bodies out of the muddy wreckage early Sunday.

"The total death toll reached 48. Search and rescue is still ongoing," Paung township administrator Zaw Moe Aung told AFP.

Heavy rains pounded Mon, Karen and Kachin states, flooding roads and destroying bridges.

As the rainy season reaches its peak, the country's armed forces are pitching in.

"Our regional military commands are working to help with the search and rescue process in disaster areas," Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP. "Helicopters will be used to supply food."