[Source: Reuters]

At least 20 people have died and more than 5.2 million have been affected in Bangladesh by floods caused by relentless monsoon rains and overflowing rivers, officials said on Sunday.

The floodwaters have left many people isolated and urgently needed food, clean water, medicine, and dry clothes, particularly in remote areas where blocked roads have hampered rescue and relief efforts.

Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is leading the interim government that was sworn in after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country following a student-led uprising this month.

Abdul Halim, a 65-year-old farmer from a village in the Comilla district, said his mud hut was swept away by a 10-foot-high surge of floodwater in the middle of the night.

Some people in Bangladesh have alleged that the floods were caused by the opening of dam sluice gates in neighboring India, an assertion New Delhi has rejected.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has warned that flood conditions could persist if the monsoon rains continue, as water levels are receding very slowly.

More than 400,000 people have taken refuge in around 3,500 shelters in the 11 flood-hit districts, where nearly 750 medical teams are on the ground to provide treatment, with the army, air force, navy, and Border Guard Bangladesh assisting in rescue operations, authorities said.

An analysis in 2015 by the World Bank Institute estimated that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, were at risk of annual river flooding. Scientists attribute the worsening of such catastrophic events to climate change.