Days of torrential rains and rising water levels in major rivers have flooded many parts in northern and northwestern Bangladesh, leaving thousands of people marooned, a news report said Friday. No casualties were reported. Over 60,000 people were stranded in Lalmonirhat district, 256 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported. A flood protection embankment was breached Friday in the district's Kaliganj area, as the Teesta River in the region crossed the flood level, the report said. Local officials, with the help of troops, were trying to evacuate poor villagers in the affected areas and ferrying in dry food, the report said. Separately, a flood protection embankment partially collapsed in northwestern district of Sirajganj, as flood waters swept through about a dozen villages, the agency said without providing further details. In the northern district of Kurigram, 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Dhaka, a large portion of a flood protection embankment was damaged, inundating at least eight remote villages where more than 15,000 families were affected, the agency said. At least nine rivers, including the Padma and Brahmaputra, were flowing over flood level, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said Friday. Bangladesh, a delta nation of 144 million people, is prone to floods during the annual monsoon season.
