Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northern city popular with tourists, has been inundated by widespread flooding as its main river overflowed its banks following heavy seasonal rainfall.

Flash floods swept through a popular elephant sanctuary in northern Thailand on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of about 100 elephants and trapping dozens of tourists, amid urgent pleas for help. Dramatic video and images from the Elephant Nature Park near the city of Chiang Mai showed dozens of elephants wading through belly-deep water to find safety on higher ground.

Flash floods in the north led to the evacuation of 100 elephants to higher ground, though some were swept away and others left stranded on a patch of land reachable only by boat.

Flooding in northern Thailand has forced many residents of the city of Chiang Mai and its outskirts to seek safety on higher ground, with members of the animal world under similar threat.

Flash floods in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, a popular destination for tourists, forced authorities to put the city on high alert as the it experienced significant flooding on September 5 due to the overflow of the Ping River following heavy seasonal rains.

Authorities and conservationists are rushing to rescue elephants, pigs and buffaloes from flash flooding in Thailand's northern Chiang Mai province, a senior official said on Friday.