Rescue workers were scrambling to provide aid to tens of thousands left homeless in western Burma and neighbouring Bangladesh on Thursday after floods and landslides killed more than 100 people.
At least 57 were killed as bridges and homes were damaged after record rainfall of more than 33 cm on Wednesday in parts of Rakhine State in military-ruled Burma, state television reported.
The dead included one member of the military. In Bangladesh, 55 people were killed on Wednesday after the worst rains in decades struck a day earlier, officials said, forcing rescuers to battle blocked roads and floods to get aid to remote communities hit by landslides.
More than 12,000 people were receiving emergency relief in makeshift camps after flash floods triggered the landslides, Bangladeshi officials said.
Dry food rations and bottles of water were handed out in the country’s south-eastern tip after rescue workers cleared debris from roads and accessed the hardest-hit area of Bangladesh, Teknaf, which is home to hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya refugees from Burma. Across the border, landslides swept away huts on hillsides in Burma, while some areas have seen floods as high as 60 cm after several days of torrential rain.