Bangladesh floods kill five, many homeless

[senorpepr]

DHAKA (Reuters) - Floods triggered by heavy rains over the past week have killed five people, made thousands homeless, damaged crops and disrupted communications in northeastern Bangladesh, officials said on Saturday.



Soldiers and civilian volunteers have been working round the clock to control a river flowing in turbulence at a point near Comilla town 100 km from the capital, Dhaka.

Major rivers in the region had already burst embankments, officials said.

"The deaths were reported from Hobiganj and Sylhet districts late on Friday. They died in house collapse and by drowning," a disaster management official said.

Most areas in the six northeastern districts with a population of more than 12 million have been flooded and at least 50,000 people lost their homes.

About 10,000 homes and schools were either washed away or damaged, officials at the respective districts said.

Nearly 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land with paddy and other crops have been inundated and roads damaged.

"It will take some more days to assess actual damages caused by the floods," Haradhan Shil, a relief official said.

Road and rail communications between the capital and affected district towns have been badly disrupted.

"Following disruption for nearly six hours, we are again operating, but the services might stop any moment, if the tracks are washed away by raging floods," Mostafa-e-Jamil, spokesman of Bangladesh Railway, said.

The floods might spread as torrential rains were likely to intensify in next seven days, a senior meteorologist said.

Most of the 54 rivers including Jamuna, Padma, Meghna and Brahmaputra that flow from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal via India and Bangladesh have risen beyond danger levels, Bangladesh Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said.

Floods and storms every monsoon kill hundreds of people, make thousands homeless and damage crops as well as property in Bangladesh, which has a population of more than 130 million.

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