The country’s government said it had opened hundreds of shelters for displaced people and sent food and relief supplies to the worst-affected northern territories.
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The death toll in Bangladesh is rising. Floods this week have killed at least eight people and left more than two million people homeless after heavy rains caused major rivers to burst their banks, authorities confirmed Saturday (July 6).
Two teenagers died when a boat capsized in a rural town in the north of the country, the local police chief told AFP. Three other people died from electrocution in another northern town. The five deaths are in addition to the three reported earlier this week. The previous toll was six dead and 1.3 million people affected.
The government said it had opened hundreds of shelters for displaced people and sent food and relief supplies to the worst-affected northern areas.
“More than two million people have been affected by the floods. Seventeen of the country’s 64 districts have been affected”Kamrul Hasan, secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management, told AFP.
He warned that the situation could worsen as the Brahmaputra, one of Bangladesh’s main rivers, is flowing above the danger threshold in some areas. Its level has risen by 2 to 2.5 metres in three days.
Bangladesh is in the midst of the summer monsoon, which accounts for 70 to 80 percent of South Asia’s annual rainfall and causes widespread death and destruction from floods and landslides. While monsoon rains cause considerable damage each year, experts say climate change is making them heavier and more erratic.
