Death toll rises in South Asia floods

Residents of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka waded through sewage and rowed boats through the flooded city of 10 million people today, as 109 more people died, bringing the toll from monsoon rains in South Asia to 1,187.

The new deaths in Bangladesh, which raised the delta nation’s flood toll to 394, came as waters receded in some flooded areas, the government said.

Most of the deaths were caused by drowning, lightning, snake bites and outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

The flooding in Dhaka has not only affected shanty towns built in low-lying areas, but residential neighbourhoods and parts of the central business district.

Holding their belongings over their heads, residents waded through the waist-deep flood waters, which had mixed with sewage and turned black and foul-smelling.

Traffic jams were formed by small wooden boats and cycle rickshaws – the only mode of transport useful in the floods. Electrical wires dangled dangerously over some roads.

The annual monsoon flooding, which is fed by melting snow and torrential rains, has left millions across South Asia marooned or homeless.

At least 686 people have died in India, 102 in Nepal and five in Pakistan, according to officials.

The floods in Bangladesh are the worst since 1998. They have engulfed two thirds of the country, affecting more than 25 million people.

Up to 1.3 million displaced people huddled in about 4,000 flood shelters. Villagers have pitched tents on roads or mud embankments with their families and cattle.

Many Dhaka residents built bamboo bridges to get to their front doors from the flooded streets.

Businesses have bricks and sand bags stacked at the entrances to keep the water out.

But the rising water still entered the ground floor of Mohammad Shaheen’s single-storied, tin-roofed, brick house a few days ago.

“I had to raise the bed with up to six bricks today, but I could not put bricks under the wardrobe, as it was to heavy to move,” he said.

Underground water reservoirs and gas outlets were inundated, causing shortages of clean water and cooking fuel.

Schools were closed and instead crammed with the homeless. Children swam playfully in the dirty water or cast nets to catch small fish.

Many children are suffering from fever, coughs, diarrhoea and skin rashes. The government says it has sent 3,500 medical teams to the worst-hit areas and distributed food, medicine and drinking water.

Last year, 1,500 people died across South Asia during the mid-June to mid-October monsoon.