Flood evacuees die in India storm
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Flood evacuees die in India storm*
Bangladeshis evacuate amid flooding in Dhaka
Millions across South Asia have no food or clean water due to flooding
At least 28 people died when an overcrowded boat carrying flood evacuees
and aid workers capsized in northern India, officials have said.
At least 85 panicked villagers in Uttar Pradesh state boarded the boat,
which only had a capacity of 30.
Monsoon rains and floods have hit 10 million people in the Indian states
of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.
In Nepal, floods have killed more than 82 people in the past two weeks,
while at least 38 have died in Bangladesh.
Villagers stranded
The overcrowded boat capsized on the rain-swollen Rohni river near
Maharajganj village, 300km (185 miles) south-east of the Uttar Pradesh
capital, Lucknow.
Most of the passengers were women and children, officials said. Police
are searching for survivors.
"The boat apparently was very old and gave way under the pressure of so
many people on board, and the strong river current," senior police
officer Prashant Kumar told the Reuters news agency.
Millions of people have fled their homes across South Asia since monsoon
rains began in June. Thousands of homes, crops and farmland have been
destroyed.
In north and north-east India the storms killed more than 150 people
during July.
Regional problem
The chief minister of Assam state, Tarun Gogoi, said the army was using
helicopters to drop relief supplies to thousands of stranded villagers,
and that many people remain without drinking water.
Elsewhere, floods and landslides have displaced about 200,000 people
since mid-June, as well as floods causing 82 deaths.
In Bangladesh, at least 38 people have died in the past few days and 4.5
million have been displaced amid flooding in the north and centre of the
country, officials say.
Relief agencies and rescue workers said they were struggling to meet
demand. Millions of people across the region have been left without food
or clean water.
Every year, hundreds of people die in flooding during the South Asian
monsoon season.