Eight die in monsoon floods
Since the flooding began in June, a total of 258 people have died in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan from water-borne diseases, electrocution, collapsed buildings and strong currents.
The worst affected have been people living in villages, mostly in weak mud houses, with little access to help.
In northwestern Assam state, India, a family of four drowned after their boat capsized in flood waters while moving to higher ground in Panijani, a village 170 miles northeast of the state capital. This raised the death toll in the state to 39 since June.
Authorities in Assam have asked the Red Cross for food, clothes, tents, drinking water and mosquito nets to help more than two million victims in 18 of the state’s 24 districts. They have also requested doctors, nurses and medicine.
In India, floods have killed a total of 162 people - 39 in Assam state, 58 in Bihar, 45 in Kerala, 17 in Uttar Pradesh and three in Tripura.
In Pakistan, five people were killed by collapsing homes or roofs in Mardan district in the country’s northwest. About 50 others were injured across several villages in Mardan.
Monsoon rains have engulfed 25 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts, stranding more than three million people in their homes. The floods have killed a total of 44 people.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said flooding was likely to worsen “in the next few days” as heavy rain continues and flood waters from India reach Bangladesh.
