Cold kills 11 as thousands seek shelter
Regional cold has claimed 11 lives in north and northwestern Bangladesh in the past few days and forced thousands to seeks shelter in schools and government offices.
District authorities have urgently appealed to the central Government to provide food, blankets and clothing for the those worst affected, but it has yet to respond.
News reports say as many as one million people could be at risk.
The most vulnerable are those who live on remote islands.
Thousands of Char inhabitants, as the islanders are called, have moved to schools, government offices and cyclone shelters.
The situation has been made worse by thick fog that has blanketed north Bengal causing serious disruption to transportation.
The Meteorology Department said the cold wave was likely to continue to the end of the week.
