Villagers marooned by floods that have stranded at least two million people in northern Bangladesh said they were running out of food and fresh water on Tuesday as rescuers struggled to reach them.
People stranded by flood waters in the northeastern Sylhet district said they had been trapped in their villages for six days and had no access to fresh water and that food supplies were running low.
They said rescuers who are delivering rice, biscuits and water purification tablets had yet to reach them.
Meanwhile, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said on Tuesday the weather might take a ”serious turn” over the next 48 hours, resulting in floods in low-lying areas near the capital and in three districts to its south and west, the official news agency BSS said.
The country has been hit by torrential rains that have hampered rescue efforts.
BSS added that an estimated 1,7-million people in the northeastern Sunamganj district alone were marooned in villages, although it did not give figures for other flood-hit districts.
A further 300 000 people were cut off from their villages and stranded in emergency shelters in neighbouring Sylhet district, BSS said.
The South Asian country suffers flooding every year during the monsoon.
At least 32 000ha of land have been submerged by the heavy rains, officials say. — Sapa-AFP