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Thousands marooned as floods worsen in Bangladesh
Dhaka, July 05: Tens of thousands of people were left stranded or have moved to safer places as flash floods worsened today in Bangladesh, officials and reports said.
Dhaka, July 05: Tens of thousands of people were
left stranded or have moved to safer places as flash floods
worsened today in Bangladesh, officials and reports said.
Officials and newspapers, including the respected the
independent daily, said thousands of people were marooned as
rain-triggered floods gushed down from northern parts of the
country into the Bay of Bengal.
"The trend in the rise of water levels in major rivers indicated that the situation might worsen further, devouring fresh areas," a flood warning centre (FWC) official told. The unofficial death toll since monsoon rains started hammering deltaic Bangladesh in May now stands at 55, with most killed in landslides in the southeastern hill tracts earlier this week. The toll includes four people who have drowned over the past few days, reports said.
Witnesses said areas around the capital Dhaka were also flooded, with water levels rising in the Shitalakhya, Balu and Buriganga rivers.
Run-off from hills in neighbouring India have been blamed by experts for the worsening floods in seven north and northwestern Bangladeshi districts of Gaibandha, Bogra, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Sirajganj and Kurigram. Some 300,000 residents of the seven districts were marooned, the independent newspaper said, but no official confirmation was available.
Local officials in Sirajganj district, 105 kilometers northwest of the capital Dhaka, said that thousands of people had been left homeless and at least25,000 victims had taken shelter on a highway in Kazipursub-district after the mighty Jamuna river continued to rise.
Bureau Report
"The trend in the rise of water levels in major rivers indicated that the situation might worsen further, devouring fresh areas," a flood warning centre (FWC) official told. The unofficial death toll since monsoon rains started hammering deltaic Bangladesh in May now stands at 55, with most killed in landslides in the southeastern hill tracts earlier this week. The toll includes four people who have drowned over the past few days, reports said.
Witnesses said areas around the capital Dhaka were also flooded, with water levels rising in the Shitalakhya, Balu and Buriganga rivers.
Run-off from hills in neighbouring India have been blamed by experts for the worsening floods in seven north and northwestern Bangladeshi districts of Gaibandha, Bogra, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Sirajganj and Kurigram. Some 300,000 residents of the seven districts were marooned, the independent newspaper said, but no official confirmation was available.
Local officials in Sirajganj district, 105 kilometers northwest of the capital Dhaka, said that thousands of people had been left homeless and at least25,000 victims had taken shelter on a highway in Kazipursub-district after the mighty Jamuna river continued to rise.
Bureau Report