Pattani, Oct 26, SPA -- At least 78 people weresuffocated or crushed to death after being arrested andpacked into police trucks after a riot in southernThailand, officials said Tuesday. The announcement dramatically increased the death tollfrom the latest eruption of violence in Thailand'sMuslim-dominated south to 84. Officials had earlier saidthat six people were shot to death during clashes Monday ata police station in Narathiwat province. Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan, a forensics expert who works forthe Justice Ministry, told a news conference Tuesday thatshe and a team of doctors conducted autopsies on 78 bodiesat an army camp in Pattani province and found that most ofthem had perished from suffocation. The dead were among some 1,300 people arrested Mondayfollowing the police station riot.--SPA1443 Local Time 1143 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/213483