Floods in northern Bangladesh have killed 16 people, damaged crops and infrastructure and marooned more than 1.5 million people over the past four days, government officials said on Saturday. The victims died crushed in collapsed houses or from drowning or snake bites as rivers burst their banks following torrential rains. "The torrents washed away some 100,000 mud-walled houses, making at least half a million homeless in the region," a disaster management official told Reuters. One-third of the homeless had taken refuge in government shelters or on high ground, he said. The flooding damaged rice and vegetable crops over at least 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) and a road network stretching nearly 1,000 km (600 miles), according to preliminary estimates. One relief official said that rivers flowing into Bangladesh from India were still in spate and the situation might worsen if the rains continued. But the Bangladesh meteorological department said on Saturday the floods were likely to recede soon. "The rains will stop in a few days because the monsoon is on the wane," one official said. Monsoon floods regularly sweep most parts of Bangladesh, and eastern states of India, killing hundreds of people every year.
