100 Dead As Storms Lash India, Bangladesh
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sep 21, 2:31 AM EDT
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100 Dead As Storms Lash India, Bangladesh*
By FARID HOSSAIN
Associated Press Writer
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- The death toll in Bangladesh and India rose to
at least 100 and nearly 1,000 remained missing Thursday after storms
capsized boats, toppled houses and washed away roads, news reports and
officials said.
Rescuers recovered 35 more bodies overnight, pushing the death toll in
Bangladesh to 49 after sudden storms hit the tropical nation's southern
coast.
Nearly 1,000 people, including a naval commander, were missing in both
countries, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as
they were not authorized to speak to media.
In India, the storms that started late Tuesday killed at least 46 people
and injured hundreds of others, Indian officials and media reports said.
In the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, torrential rains and
floods killed at least 31 people over two days, G.T. Priyadarshini, a
relief official, said Wednesday. Most people died when their houses
collapsed or when they were swept away by flood waters.
Around 5,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas and many villages
were cut off after roads and railway tracks were submerged when rivers
in the state overflowed their banks.
At least 15 others were killed and 300 injured in India's West Bengal
state, Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The storm left a trail of destruction in two districts in West Bengal
state, toppling thousands of mud huts, trees, and electricity and
telephone poles, the agency reported, quoting State Finance Minister
Asim Dasgupta.
The death toll was expected to rise as reports from interior areas had
yet to come in, the report said.
In the Bay of Bengal, a Bangladeshi navy ship partially overturned at
Akram Point in Khulna during the storms, leaving its commanding officer
missing, but some 40 others aboard the ship are safe, the United News of
Bangladesh reported.
The coast guard deployed helicopters to search for Lt. Comm. Firoz
Kabir, the report said, adding that search and rescue operations were
being hampered by the continuing bad weather.