Saudis to send urgent flood aid to Bangladesh

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah yesterday ordered the emergency supplies to be rushed to flood-hit Bangladesh, the official SPA news agency reported.

The aid, which will be flown in Saudi aircraft, will comprise mostly food and medicine, the agency reported.

The monarch also ordered that 50 million dollars (37 million euros) be sent to cover urgent needs in the diaster zone, SPA said.

Bangladesh is struggling to contain outbreaks of water-borne disease as waters recede following major flooding and monsoon rains, which together have killed 328 people, officials said on Wednesday.

Since June, more than 2,000 people have died across South Asia in flooding that has also caused damage estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thousands of villages remained under water and threatened by disease on Thursday and millions of people were still displaced, mainly in India and Bangladesh, where valuable crops were also destroyed.