Massive evacuation after India river changes course: officials

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

SAHARSA, India (AFP) — Tens of thousands of people have fled to safer areas but more than a million were still trapped in floods after a river changed its course due to heavy rains, an official said Thursday.

At least two million people were marooned when the Kosi river breached its banks and flooded huge swathes of the eastern state of Bihar.

"About 90,000 victims have been evacuated from villages in the flood affected area by government rescue agencies," disaster management official Prataya Amrit told AFP.

More than 400 boats had been pressed into service and hundreds more would be used to shift people to relief shelters and higher land, he said.

At least 46 people are reported to have died in the floods.

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