50,000 people marooned by monsoon floods

Floods caused by heavy monsoon rains have trapped nearly 50,000 people in their villages and damaged hundreds of houses in northern Bangladesh.

Schools were closed as flood waters entered the low-lying areas of Sunamganj, 110 miles northeast of the capital, Dhaka. Some streets in the town are knee-deep in water.

The Surma River broke two mud embankments meant to protect villages and crop lands in Sunamganj and neighbouring Sylhet districts.

At least 30,000 people have been stranded in flooded houses in Sunamganj and Sylhet districts, located across the border from the Indian state of Assam, another rain-hit region. Another 20,000 people have been marooned in the northern districts of Netrokona and Chapainawabganj.

Flood-affected villagers used homemade boats or rafts fashioned from banana trees to get around. Flood waters swamped at least 40 villages in the northern districts of Sunamganj, Sylhet, Netrokona and Chapainawabganj.

The Meteorological Department said 9.4in of rain has fallen in the region this week. The rains, along with flood waters coming from the neighbouring Indian state of Assam, have caused the Surma and Teesta Rivers to overflow their banks.

Most of Bangladesh's 250 rivers have their origins in the Himalayas. The rivers run through the Indian and Bangladeshi plains before draining into the Bay of Bengal. Floods are normal in July and August in Bangladesh.