BANGLADESH DISASTER CLAIMS 371 LIVES WITH WORSE TO COME

20m in crisis as floods engulf a nation

by Julie Simmons,  Foreign Editor

Despair is etched on the face of fourteen-year-old Tahmina Khatun, drifting along on a raft near her home which has disappeared under torrents of water. She knows she now faces an uphill struggle in life.

"My companions are my ducks…and sometimes I feel threatened by snakes. But I am still alive."

Twenty million people have been affected by flooding in Bangladesh which has left two-thirds of the country under water.

They face sickness and famine as whole communities are marooned, their crops destroyed and houses sunk in a disaster of epic proportions - and the worst is yet to come. Torrents pouring in from neighbouring India are adding to the catastrophe which has so far claimed 371 lives.

Sixty died of illness caused by polluted water and rotting food. Others drowned or were killed by mudslides crushing their homes. Many were poisoned by snake bites. At least 100,000  have contracted diarrhoea and thousands more are falling sick every day, say aid workers.

Bangladesh, a country of twenty-five million people, appealed yesterday for urgent international aid to help it cope with the crisis.

A woman stands by the remains of her home in Shariatpur, destroyed by the worst floods to hit Bangladesh in over a decade.

"We will welcome any form of assistance from any government or international agencies," said Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad. He warned that his country would need "huge resources".

The flooding is the worst in Bangladesh since 1988 when more than 5,000 people died.