Nine die in Dinajpur as flood situation worsens

Nine deaths have been reported from Dinajpur as the floods in the northern district have taken a turn for the worse.

Dinajpur Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 13 August 2017, 05:08 PM
Updated : 13 August 2017, 05:08 PM

Seven victims have drowned and six of them were adolescents. One died after being bitten by a snake and another person was electrocuted.

Kaharole Police Station OC Mansur Rahman told bdnews24.com one Sonaban Begum of Hasila village in Birol was travelling on a raft made of banana trees with her three children and another child of her neighbour on Sunday afternoon.

The four children drowned when the raft overturned. They are Sonaban's daughter 'Chumki', 13, and sons Shaheed Ali, 10, and 'Siad', 7, and her neighbour Sayeed Hossain's son 'Sihad', 7.

The two other adolescents who drowned are Mehedi Hasan, 15, of Balubarhi and Abu Nayeem, 13, of Mirzapur in Dinajpur town, according to Mayor Syed Jahangir Alam.

The mayor said one Chan Mia, 55, of Darbarpur village in Sadar Upazila died after being bitten by a snake.

He identified the electrocuted victim as Saiful Islam, 45, of the town's Balubarhi.

Dipali Roy, 32, drowned while moving furniture at her home in Maljharh village of Birol Upazila, her husband Bablu Roy said.

The Punarbhaba River was flowing 80 centimetres above the danger mark in Dinajpur at 6pm.

There was no rain in the afternoon but new areas were being submerged after the dam protecting the town from the river collapsed.

A team of the Army arrived in the town in the afternoon but did not start work to repair the damaged dam until evening.

The district administration has allotted Tk 125,000 and 67 tonnes of rice as relief, Deputy Commissioner Mir Khairul Alam told bdnews24.com.

He added the district administration has sent a letter to the disaster management and relief ministry, asking for Tk 5 million and 300 tonnes of rice.