100 More Die in India Flooding as Toll Hits 758

More than 100 bodies were found in flood-stricken areas of India’s West Bengal state Saturday, taking the death toll to 758 in 10 days of monsoon flooding, officials said.

An additional 200 people were missing as the worst flooding in 22 years continued, a government spokesman said.

Flood waters have been receding in the worst-affected areas for three days, but they have rolled down to the Bangladeshi border, where rivers rose further Saturday.

“Water is falling in most areas, but in some places it is still rising,” said state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta. He said he expected the situation to ease considerably in the next three days.

Weather department officials said rivers were expected to recede as high tides in coastal districts abated today.

Torrential monsoon rains and heavy flows in the Ganges and 56 other rivers have affected more than 17 million people, destroyed paddy fields and damaged roads and railway tracks.

Flood waters now sweeping into Bangladesh have swamped a quarter of the country and left at least 70 people dead and almost 350 missing.

Vast areas on both sides of the border remained cut off Saturday, and millions of people faced hunger and disease, officials said.

Officials and relief workers said decaying cattle carcasses and poor sanitary conditions in flood-hit villages posed a serious health hazard.

Relief department officials in India said air force helicopters were dropping food packets in affected villages.