Heavy rains and rising floodwaters forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in northeastern India, as monsoon misery spread in South Asia.
In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, desperate flood victims attacked a warehouse and looted food supplies, while in neighbouring Bangladesh major rivers rose to danger levels and fresh parts of the country were submerged.
In the northeastern state of Assam, heavy rains caused water levels to rise today, affecting more than a million people and disrupting road networks for the second consecutive day.
Animals fled to higher ground in Kaziranga National Park after the Brahmaputra burst its banks and flooded most of the park, home to more than half of the world's population of one-horned rhinoceros.
At least two rhino calves were drowned and a herd of 100 elephants were swept away by floodwaters, forest officials said.
"We are now worried the poachers will take advantage and kill rhinos and elephants as they are moving out of the protected areas to safer ground," said chief warden S. N. Buragohain.
In Bihar, the floods have already displaced about three million people and killed at least 90.
Hundreds of stick-wielding villagers ransacked a food warehouse in Madhepura district and looted food packets while police guarding the warehouse ran for cover. Government vehicles carrying food were also looted.
Many villagers in impoverished Bihar have been marooned on rooftops for days with nothing to eat.
The Kosi river burst a dam in Nepal late last month flooding hundreds of villages across the state and destroying 100,000 hectares of farmlands.
Since the monsoon began in South Asia in June, more than 1,000 people have died in floods, with most of the casualties recorded in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh in July.
Some experts have blamed the floods on heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming, while others say authorities have failed to take preventive measures and improve infrastructure.
Although floodwaters are rising in Assam and Bangaldesh, water levels in Bihar are receding and the government aims to evacuate all stranded villagers within the next three days.
Aid agencies have criticised the government's handling of the crisis saying they should have done more to anticipate the disaster and plan relief operations since the region is hit by monsoon flooding every year.
In Bihar, more than 560,000 people have been evacuated so far, and some 200,000 have been moved to government relief camps, officials said.
Reuters