DHAKA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Rescue officials counted eight more bodies putting the death toll at 164 Tuesday morning from the current flood that caused havoc over half the country since mid-July, private news agency UNB reported.

    The officials said eight more deaths have been reported from different districts in 24 hours since 11:00 a.m. Monday.

    A statistics released Tuesday said the floodwaters kept marooned over 9.1 million people of nearly 2 million families in 39 districts, causing substantial damages to both life and property.

    The Flood Forecast and Warning Center (FFWC) said although the situation has improved slightly in northern districts, but three rivers surrounding capital Dhaka registered further rise in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.

    And the Buriganga River at Dhaka have already crossed danger level.

    Officials of FFWC said the flood situation in and around Dhaka might aggravate if there is further rainfall.

    Although the overall flood situation showed a trend of slight improvement but millions marooned or homeless remained in misery for dearth of foodstuff and pure drinking water.

    Over 350,000 flood-hit victims have so far taken shelter in 1,515 flood centers in the affected districts.

    Standing crops on more than 1.4 million acres (about 567,000 hectares) were fully or partially damaged as the swelling water still continued to deluge fresh areas though at a comparatively slow pace.

    According to the official statistics, at least 89,048 houses were damaged completely and about 650,000 partially. Some 332 educational institutions were damaged completely while 4,893 others partially.

    Some 65.66-km flood-protection embankments were completely washed away while 6,434 kms affected partially.