150,000 marooned by Bangladesh floods

At least 150,000 people have been marooned and thousands of hectares of crops destroyed by floods after weeks of heavy rain in Bangladesh's northeast, an official said Tuesday.

Five weeks of heavy rain caused rivers to burst their banks and flood large areas of countryside and villages, Sylhet district chief Sazzad Hossain told AFP.

"At least 36,000 families -- around 150,000 people -- have been marooned by the floods in my district," he said.

The water level was still rising, causing major damage to crops and cutting off communication with many areas, he added.

"We have opened 31 makeshift relief centres where 2,000 people have taken shelter," he said, adding there were currently no report of casualties.

Last week at least 55 people were killed after the worst rains in decades triggered landslides and flash floods in the country's southeastern hill regions. At least 12,000 people were made homeless in the floods.