Flood death toll hits 554 in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll due to drowning, disease and snakebite during the current flooding in Bangladesh rose to 554 till Saturday morning, Health Ministry statistics said.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Center Saturday said, "The flood situation in some districts is likely to deteriorate slightly as rivers swell due to heavy rain."
According to statistics provided by the Food and Disaster Management Ministry, some 10.5 million people of 39 of 64 districts in the country have been affected by the floods, which started on July 30. Nearly 162,814 people have taken shelter in 613 relief camps, having been displaced from their homes.
The flood damaged some 944,878 houses, crops on 1,517,700 acres(613,204 hectares), some 25,849-km-long roads, and 7550 educational institutions, completely or partially, during the flooding.
The flood also damaged 803 kms of embankments and some 1,764 bridges.