Asia

Home page

Asia

Bangladesh Storms Kill 15, Tens of Thousands Stranded

09 October 2010 19:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. News reports from Bangladesh say three days of incessant rains have killed at least 15 people, stranded tens of thousands more and left at least 50 fishermen missing across the delta nationâ€™s southern coast, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.
Bangladeshi media reported Saturday that thousands of people have fled to emergency shelters, as waters triggered by a tidal surge from the Bay of Bengal inundated homes along the low-lying coastal zone. Two teenagers were reported to have died in the capital, Dhaka, when a wall collapsed on them.
Of the 200 fishermen originally reported missing in the Bay of Bengal Thursday, 150 have returned to shore. Ferry services in the countryâ€™s southern areas were halted because of the rough weather.
Storms originating at sea kill many Bangladeshis nearly every year. In 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed about 3,000 people, causing a tidal surge that wiped out entire villages. It was the worst storm to hit the country in more than a decade. In 2009, Cyclone Aila struck, causing further damage.
Earlier this week, the World Bank announced it has approved a $75 million loan to Bangladesh to help it recover from those two cyclones. The funding is in addition to $109 million in emergency support provided earlier by the global bank.
World Bank Bangladesh Director Ellen Goldstein says the global lending institution decided to increase its financing to help Bangladesh make a faster and more complete recovery. She says the loan also will help Bangladesh prepare for future disasters.