Hundreds of thousands stranded as floods hit India and Bangladesh

Several deaths reported as floods caused by torrential rains sweep India’s northeast and neighbouring Bangladesh’s east.

Floodwaters have inundated parts of India and Bangladesh, stranding hundreds of thousands of people in India’s northeast and neighbouring Bangladesh’s eastern region.

The death toll in Bangladesh, which is still recovering from weeks of political turmoil, had risen to 13 on Friday.

Some 4.5 million people were affected by the floods in eastern Bangladesh, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief said.

Soldiers in lifeboats ferried people to safety in India’s northeastern state of Tripura on Friday after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, forcing more than 65,000 people from their homes and killing at least 23 people, the authorities said.

Television images showed army personnel manning the rescue craft, while cars and buses were marooned in streets of knee-deep water, and disaster management officials said four days of incessant rain had swollen rivers.

The authorities have opened 450 relief camps in Tripura, where about 1.7 million people have been affected, along with extensive damage to infrastructure, crops and livestock.

The rains and the rising waters from upstream Tripura 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 communications were severed between the capital, Dhaka, and the southeastern port city of Chittagong as parts of a major highway were underwater.

While annual monsoon rains in South Asia regularly cause significant destruction, climate change is altering weather patterns and increasing the frequency of extreme weather