South Asia » Bangladesh
Monday, January 16, 2006
Cold wave death toll mounts to 22, including 19 children
Agence France-Presse
Dhaka, January 16, 2005
At least 22 people including 19 children have died in Bangladesh following a cold snap last week, hospital officials said on Monday.
"During the last five days, 14 children aged between one month and 12 years have died from pneumonia or other diseases caused by the cold," said Anju Rani Dey, an administrator at Chittagong Medical College hospital in southeast Bangladesh.
More than 100 children had been admitted to the hospital since last week suffering from illnesses linked to the cold weather, she said.
Five other children died at Mother and Child Hospital in the port city of Chittagong, assistant registrar Rokeya Begum said.
Three elderly people, two women and a male jail inmate being treated at a hospital, also died in the northwestern Rajshai region, district officials told the agency.
The deaths bring the number of cold-related fatalities this month to 24. Two people died last week when temperatures dropped as low as 6.2 Celsius (43.2 Fahrenheit) in the southwestern district of Jessore.
At least 11 people were also killed in accidents caused by heavy fog.
"Since Saturday the weather has been improving across Bangladesh," a spokesman for the Bangladesh Meteorological Department told the agency on Monday.
Temperatures were now back to their seasonal average of between 11 and 12 degrees Celsius in most places and were likely to continue improving, he added.