Death toll from Bangladesh floods hits 161

As many as 161 people have lost their lives to the ongoing floods in Bangladesh, mostly from drowning, according to government data.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 August 2020, 09:32 PM
Updated : 6 August 2020, 09:32 PM

Water levels in most rivers are receding, but the Met Office has warned of another wave of flooding by the end of August.

The National Health Crisis Management Centre recorded the deaths between Jun 30 and Thursday.

Drowning caused 134 deaths while 13 died from lightning strikes.

Diarrhoea and snake bite among other reasons caused the rest of the fatalities.

A total of 16 deaths have been recorded in the 24 hours to Thursday morning in Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Tangail, Manikganj, Dhaka, Munshiganj and Kishoreganj.

Water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, skin-disease, eye-inflammation, bronchitis have affected nearly 28,000 people in the flood-hit areas. They include more than 10,000 diarrhoea patients.

The water level has started falling gradually in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna basin while the level at Ganga-Padma basin is likely to begin dropping in the next 24 hours, said Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, the executive engineer of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

Shamsuddin Ahmed, a director at Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said the flood situation in the northern and central regions may gradually improve and the condition is likely to become normal by the middle of August.

The northeast and southeast regions may experience flooding again by the end of the month due to heavy monsoon rains, he added.