Tourists stranded as floods hit Malaysian jungle

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (BSS/AFP): Malaysian authorities launched a major rescue operation Wednesday to evacuate tourists stranded at a resort by heavy monsoon flooding that has forced tens of thousands of residents to abandon their homes.
Helicopters were being used in the ongoing operation to rescue people from the Mutiara Taman Negara Resort, which lies in the remote jungle of central Malaysia's Taman Nagara national park.
Around 100 people were stranded at the resort, half of them thought to be foreign tourists from countries including France, Germany, Australia and Britain, according to state news agency Bernama.