At least 50 dead in cold snap in Bangladesh

(Jan. 02, 2013) In Bangladesh at least 50 people have died so far, after a cold snap hit the country Dec. 24. Kurigram district has recorded 32 cold-related deaths, with most of the victims - infants and children. Temperatures are expected to remain low in the coming days.
“Thousands of people in the north have been hospitalized because of asthma, pneumonia and diarrhea," said Monirul Islam, senior deputy secretary from the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry. "The death toll may rise," he said. “The demand for warm clothes and blankets in the northwest is higher than it has been for the past five years and the government has already distributed 339,000 blankets”, he added. Development organizations such as the Catholic charity Caritas have rushed to aid cold victims. “We are currently collecting the names of needy people to distribute warm clothes worth 1.5 million taka (US$19,000). Distribution will start in a day or two,’ said Pintu William Gomes, a disaster management official with Caritas. The temperature has been around 8 degrees Celsius (45 Farenheit) since Tuesday. “Temperatures could drop further to six degrees Celsius and the situation may continue for the next few days,” said Bazlur Hossain from the meteorological office in Dhaka.
Dense fog has affected land and water transportation, with ferry services suspended for hours at a time due to low visibility.