Three people died and 10 others went missing when a bridge collapsed in Tangail while three others including an official of Bangladesh Rural Development Board Mohammad Shahidul drowned in Sirajganj yesterday.

The flood situation in Sirajganj and the north-eastern districts of Netrakona, Sunamganj and Sylhet deteriorated slightly.

Three people, including a child, died and 10 others went missing when a 60-foot section of the 200-foot Baruria Bridge on the Elengjani in Tangail was washed away Tuesday night, our Tangail correspondent reports.

According to witnesses, police and officials of the district administration, 20 to 25 people of adjacent villages were standing on the bridge when it collapsed into the river. Locals recovered at least eight people using boats.

The bodies of Hazera Khatun, 60, and her granddaughter Iasmin, 8, were recovered Tuesday night, while the body of Rubel, 18, was recovered from Dapnagar village yesterday morning.

Ruhul Amin Khokan, chairman of Gharinda union parishad, told The Daily Star that they were trying their best to recover the missing people. "We suspect all the missing people have drowned and their bodies have been washed away."

Mohammad Yousuf Ali, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Tangail after visiting the spot told The Daily Star that the rescue operation there lacked vigor as there was no underwater rescue team in the district.

Mirpur, Railway Colony and Mahmudpur areas of Sirajganj were inundated yesterday, our Bogra and Sirajganj correspondents report.

Most roads, houses and commercial structures went under floodwater forcing people to take shelters on higher grounds, embankments and roofs of buildings.

The correspondents during their visits found many people living under the open sky and a lot of them were in short of food.

"The flood affected 3,86,000 people and the relief materials allocated for them are inadequate," said Sirajganj Sadar Thana Nirbahi Officer (TNO) Mozaffar Ahmad.

The Padma was flowing 136cm and 92cm above danger levels at Goalundo and Bhagyakul yesterday and is likely to rise further inundating more areas of Manikganj, Munshiganj, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Dohar and Nawabganj upazilas of Dhaka, according to Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).

The Shitalakhya was flowing 6cm above danger level at Narayanganj and Tongi canal was flowing 4cm above danger level at Tongi, while the Balu at Demra is likely to cross danger level in a day and the Turag at Mirpur in the next two days.

The Meghna was flowing 40cm above danger level at Bhairab Bazar yesterday and is likely to swell further inundating low-lying areas of Narsingdi, Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj.

The water level of the Jamuna also rose and was flowing 50cm, 71cm, 83cm, 117cm and 112cm above danger levels at Noonkhawa, Chilmari, Bahadurabad, Sirajganj and Aricha.

Troops and NGOs joined hands with district administrations in distributing relief materials, while military engineers were struggling to protect vulnerable flood control embankments damaged by flood, according to BSS.

According to the state-owned news agency, train communication between Jamalpur and Sarishabari and Islampur and Dewanganj has been suspended.

Our correspondent in Narayanganj reports: New low-lying areas of the town were inundated, while the Shitalakhya was flowing 30cm over the danger level at Baniadi of Rupganj and the Meghna 33cm above danger level at Sonargaon yesterday.

A correspondent from Faridpur reports: Six lakh people have been affected by the flood in 60 unions of eight upazilas of the district. An embankment at Minshibazar collapsed inundating Dhaka-Barisal Highway at Maniknagar.

Our correspondent from Tangail reports: Only a small portion of over 3.5 lakh flood-affected people in the district received relief, while the 15 flood shelters the government set up is inadequate.

As a result, many flood-affected people of Sadullapur, Gala, Pitchuria, Mogra, Boro Basalia and Vaeta of Sadar upazila took shelters on Tangail-Mogra Road along with their livestock.

A correspondent from Munshiganj reports: 50,000 people living near Mawa-Bhagyakul embankment are under threat as breaches that developed in the embankment Monday is yet to be repaired.

Our correspondent from Kishoreganj reports: Floodwater from northern districts is entering the haor areas of the district deteriorating the flood situation there. Niklee upazila remains cut off from the rest of the district as a part of Kishoreganj-Niklee road was washed away at Pachrokhi and Kholsha five days ago.

Our correspondent from Gaibandha reports: New areas of Gaibandha Sadar, Fulchari and Shaghata upazilas were flooded as breaches developed in different embankments along the western banks of the Brahmaputra and Ghagot.

Gaibandha-Balashighat road communication remains snapped as over three kilometres of road went under three to four feet of floodwater.

People who took shelter on the embankment along the western bank of the Brahmaputra are living in makeshift sheds and are suffering from food and drinking water shortages.

Our correspondent from Nilphamari reports: Diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases have been reported as the floodwater recedes in the district.

The floods damaged about 400 metres of two bank-protections of the Teesta at Dakshin Sonakhuli and Vedabari.

Our staff correspondent from Sylhet reports: Over 300 vehicles were stranded as the road link between Sylhet and Companiganj and Gowainghat upazilas snapped following a mudslide at Barsala early yesterday. However, Roads and Highways officials re-established the communication around 5:00pm removing earth from the road.

The flood situation in the district further deteriorated yesterday as the Surma was flowing 40cm above danger level at Sylhet city, 60cm above at Sunamganj and 144cm above danger level at Kanaighat.

Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia urged the countrymen, regardless of their political ideology, to come forward and help the flood-affected people through the natural calamity.

The former prime minister also asked her party men as well as the wealthy people to extend their support to the destitute people.

"I cannot go to them due to the changed situation, but I will stand beside them if I get the chance," she said in a statement signed by Mohiuddin Khan Mohon, former assistant press secretary to the prime minister.

She said, "The flood situation is deteriorating day by day. Better preparations and necessary steps should be taken to protect lives and properties."

Urging the authorities concerned to be more careful, she said they should be prepared for post-flood rehabilitations as many people lose their properties and livelihood due to river erosion. Besides crops are damaged and different diseases break out during that time, she added.

She said, "Natural calamities cannot be prevented but it is possible to minimise casualties and damages by handling the crisis efficiently."