At least 20 people died from cold weather in northern Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, taking the confirmed death toll from the frigid conditions to 110 in the past week, officials said on Monday.
The victims, most of them beggars and the homeless, died as the mercury dropped to five degrees Celsius. Temperatures at this time of year usually hover at about eight to ten degrees Celsius.
Thick fog forced authorities to suspend operations at Dhaka’s international airport for 14 hours until late morning on Monday, aviation officials said.
Several incoming international flights were diverted and outbound flights were delayed, stranding passengers.
The weather office said the cold snap that began last Monday was likely to ease a little in the next two days before temperatures dropped again on the weekend.
Hospitals have been crowded with people, most of them children, suffering from cold-related illnesses, such as influenza, dehydration and pneumonia, an official of the government’s health directorate said. — Reuters