Dhaka, 20.06. (Prensa Latina) Around six million people have been affected by the floods in northern and north-eastern Bangladesh, which are expected to spread to the central region of the country today.
Thousands of people are isolated due to the waters as the country’s main rivers, such as the Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Meghna and Padma, continue to grow and exceed danger levels in many places, the New Age portal pointed out.
At least six people were killed and two were missing on Sunday, more than 100,000 were evacuated to 984 flood shelters, mostly in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts.
The casualties were caused by being crushed under houses, electrocuted, or being pulled through the water.
The Flood Forecast and Warning Center warned that floods would spread to the center of the country on Monday amid fears that the simultaneous surge of the Brahmaputra and Padma rivers would prolong the flooding.
The rapidly rising rivers in the north have swept away at least 78 houses and caused three protective dikes to collapse.
The northern and north-eastern regions of Bangladesh are home to 40 transboundary rivers that flow from India and drain vast mountainous landscapes in the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram, where extreme rainfall has been recorded regularly over the past two weeks.
Minister of State for Disaster Management and Protection Enamur Rahman said the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Fire Brigade are conducting rescue operations using at least 48 boats.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department forecast widespread rain across the country on Monday.
mem/abm