A rain-swollen river burst through an embankment and swamped more areas of northeastern Bangladesh, where recent flooding had already killed at least seven people and marooned about 150,000, relief officials said Friday. Heavy rains over the past week had caused flooding in the Moulvibazar and Habiganj farming districts, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of the capital, Dhaka. On Thursday, the Kushiara River broke through a mud embankment and inundated at least 20 more villages with a total of about 15,000 people in Habiganj district, a relief official said on condition of anonymity. That brought to over 200 the number of villages hit by the floods. More than 150,000 people are marooned in their swamped homes, relying on boats for transportation.
