Floods in India and Bangladesh Leave More Than 40 People Dead

More than 40 people died as a result of massive floods that devastated Northeastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes under water and structural damage to transportation routes, among other serious damages, reported authorities in their respective countries.

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Water Crisis Hits Indian States

In the Indian state of Assam, at least nine people were killed in the floods and 2 million had their homes submerged, according to the state disaster management agency.

At least 21 people have been killed by lightning in Bangladesh since Friday, and four people died in landslides, police officials said.

The flooding in Bangladesh, described by a government expert as potentially the country's worst since 2004, was exacerbated by runoff from heavy rains in the Indian mountains.

Four other people were killed when landslides hit their homes on the hillsides of the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh's second largest city. It is located in the eastern part of the Asian country.

At least 16 people have died since Thursday in India's remote Meghalaya, the state's chief minister, Conrad Sangma, wrote on Twitter after landslides and rivers flooded roads.

The Brahmaputra River, one of Asia's largest, broke its mud dams and flooded 3,000 villages and farmland in 28 of Assam's 33 districts. 

"The volume of rainfall is unprecedented," said Sanjay O'Neil, a weather station official in Gauhati, the capital of Assam. "We expect moderate to heavy rains in several parts of Assam through Sunday", he added.

Incessant rains lashed India for five consecutive days and canceled several train services. Floodwaters submerged an entire railway station at Halfong in southern Assam and dumped mud and silt along the railway tracks. 

Widespread flooding caused by monsoon rains has stranded nearly 6 million people in the two countries.In low-lying areas of Bangladesh, districts near the border with India have been the worst affected.