Dhaka, July 06: Swollen rivers inundated low-lying areas around Bangladesh's capital today, as the country's death toll from a weeklong deluge rose to 77.
In the latest deaths, seven people drowned yesterday,
six of them children.
Monsoon-fed flood waters running down from the north
have swollen rivers that encircle Dhaka, the capital city of
10 million people, the flood forecasting and warning center
said.
At least 50,000 people living in the low-lying
outskirts of Dhaka have been hit by the deluge, which flooded
flimsy huts and streets and disrupted transportation, relief
officials said on condition of anonymity.
Yesterday, four children and a woman drowned in
flood waters in Rajbari district, 70 kilometres west of Dhaka,
government officials said, and two children were washed away
by surging flood waters in Nilphamari district, 290 kilometres
to the north.
Monsoon rains have battered Bangladesh for more than
a week, and many of the 77 people who have died have been
children.
About 25 of the country's 64 districts have been
flooded and nearly 1.5 million people are marooned, officials
said. Many villagers have lost rice crops, livestock and
flimsy houses.
Schools have closed in some northern areas so they
can be used as shelters for flood victims. About 30,000
villagers left homeless by the floods have camped in schools
or on mud embankments.
Bureau Report
