Monsoon Flooding Strands Thousands in Bangladesh

Monsoon flooding has covered low-lying areas of Bangladesh’s vast southern coast along the Bay of Bengal, marooning thousands of people.

The United News of Bangladesh agency reported Friday that incessant rains triggered by a monsoon depression have damaged several flood protection embankments. It said a 5-year-old girl was washed away in the Cox’s Bazar district after tidal surges destroyed parts of an embankment.

The Bengali-language Sangbad newspaper reported that hundreds of fishing boats have returned from the sea because of bad weather.

The newspaper said many fields and shrimp farms were washed away by tidal surges in Cox’s Bazar and several other nearby districts, and that at least 10,000 villagers in Laxmipur district, 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of the capital Dhaka, had been affected.

The depression crossed Bangladesh’s coast by Friday but rains continued.

Government officials could not be reached immediately as Friday is part of the weekend in Bangladesh.

Flood is a common natural disaster in Bangladesh, a delta nation of 150 million people.