Floods maroon many people in Bangladesh and India and cause at least 15 deaths

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Floodwaters have stranded hundreds of thousands of people in India’s northeast and neighboring Bangladesh’s eastern region, causing at least 15 deaths as rescuers struggled to reach those who needed help, officials and media reports said Thursday.

At least 11 people were killed and thousands displaced from homes as floods and mudslides have ravaged India’s northeastern Tripura state, bordering Bangladesh, since Wednesday.

Another four were killed in Bangladesh as upstream India and downstream Bangladesh share common rivers along their border.

India’s Meteorological Department issued a “red” alert in Tripura on Wednesday, forcing authorities to announce a two-day closure of schools after heavy rains inundated several regions, including the state’s capital, Agartala.

Authorities have opened more than 300 relief camps in Tripura, where the number of people shifting to the camps was estimated to run into thousands.

Of the 11 dead since the rains intensified Monday, seven drowned or washed away while four were buried by mudslides.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and are focusing on providing relief to those displaced from their homes,” Tripura’s Chief Minister Manik Saha said.

In Bangladesh, a pregnant woman died after she fell into raging waters at Akhaura in Brahmanbaria district, Bengali-language Kal Bela newspaper reported. Three other people died from drowning and electrocution, it said.

The rains and the rising waters from upstream Tripura state devastated many areas in eastern Bangladesh. Many in the worst-hit districts such as Cumilla, Feni and Noakhali called for rescue as power was cut and road links were disconnected. Travel and communication were severed between the capital, Dhaka,