More than 1.3 million people affected by Bangladesh floods

Bangladesh villages home to more than 1.3 million people have been inundated after floods triggered by heavy rains in the country's northeast, a top government bureaucrat said Wednesday, reports AFP.

"More than 1.34 million people have been affected," Sylhet divisional commissioner Abu Ahmed Siddique told AFP. "Their villages and roads and most of their homes have been inundated by flood water."

Heavy rains have caused water levels in the Brahmaputra, Dharla, and Dudhkumar rivers to rise, leading to flooding in many parts of northeastern Bangladesh, forecasters said.

Meteorologists have warned that the heavy rains will continue in the next 24 hours. The authorities have organized humanitarian assistance to those affected. Residents of flooded areas are being evacuated to temporary tent camps.