Rescuers saved a 100 kg Mekong giant catfish that had swam out of the river into a flooded train station in Thailand.

A team of volunteers from Uttaradit Songkroh Foundation were on their way to evacuate stranded residents from submerged homes during recent floods when they spotted the monster fish stuck outside the ticketing booth in Chiang Mai on October 6.

Footage shows the team members on a boat with others taking remembrance photos of the exceptionally huge catfish after its rescue.

Volunteer Boonsong Tangrid said they left the fish with the train station master, who would release it back into the river when the water receded.

He said: ‘We saw the massive catfish in front of Saraphi Railway Station. The water was at hip level and it could not swim through obstructions.'

Boonsong added that the catfish was estimated to weigh 15.7 st (100kg) and measure 3.3ft (1 metre) from head to tail.

He said: ‘It was one of the biggest I have seen. We turned it over to the train station master to take care of until the water levels are normal.

‘We had to leave after that because we had to assist in the evacuation of residents nearby.'

The Mekong giant catfish is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and in Appendix I of CITES, due to overfishing and habitat loss. It is native to the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia and parts of China.

This species held the Guinness World Record for the world's largest freshwater fish from 2005 until 2022, when a giant freshwater stingray caught in Cambodia surpassed the record.

It can grow up to 9.8 feet (3 metres) and weigh between 23.6 st (150kg) and 31.4 st (200kg) within six years.

As young fish, Mekong giant catfish feed on zooplankton and sometimes eat each other. After about a year, they switch to a mostly plant-based diet, eating algae that grow on submerged rocks. Since they have no teeth, they may accidentally consume tiny larvae and other organisms along with the algae.

Fishing for Mekong giant catfish is illegal in the wild in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. In June 2006, dozens of Thai fishermen agreed to stop catching the endangered catfish, marking the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's ascension to the throne.

Thailand is the only country that allows fishing for private stocks of Mekong giant catfish, which helps conserve the species. Lakes such as Bueng Samran in Bangkok house catfish weighing up to 22 st (140 kg), though the average size caught is about 2.9 st (18kg).

Heavy rains have been ravaging northern Thailand in recent weeks. The seasonal downpours have caused severe floods as rivers burst their banks and submerged towns and villages.

Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are in their annual monsoon rainy season, which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon, leading to widespread flash floods.