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On Saturday, authorities announced that the monsoon had led to widespread downpours in northeastern Bangladesh and India, with about six million people stranded and warned that the situation could worsen.
Bangladesh police say at least 15 people have been killed in lightning strikes and four in landslides in the first eight provinces of Bangladesh since Friday.
A government expert has described the flood problem in Bangladesh as the worst since 2004, when it was exacerbated by torrential rains from the Indian hills. The rain continued on Saturday and will be even heavier over the next two days.
Mohammad Musharraf Hussain, head of the Sylhet district administration in Bangladesh, said: “Most northeastern parts of the country are under water and the situation is getting worse as heavy rains continue.
In a statement to Reuters, he said that the worst-hit area of Sonam Kong had become almost isolated from the rest of the country and that authorities were focusing on rescuing stranded people and distributing relief supplies with the help of the military.
Television footage showed flood-ravaged roads and railways in Bangladesh, with people carrying their belongings and livestock across chest-high waters.
Aripussaman Boen, head of the government’s flood warning and forecast center, said water levels in several rivers in Bangladesh had risen to dangerous levels.
In India’s neighboring state of Assam, landslides have killed at least nine people in the past 10 days and displaced nearly two million people, officials say, adding that the armed forces have been called in for rescue efforts.
It has been raining for the sixth day in a row in 25 of the 33 districts in the state.
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