Death toll from floods in Bangladesh climbs to 123

Flood waters washed away six children and four men drowned in a rain-swollen river, raising the death toll from a monsoon deluge in Bangladesh to 123.

Flood waters washed away six children and four men drowned in a rain-swollen river, raising the death toll from a monsoon deluge in Bangladesh to 123, relief officials said on Sunday.

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The six children were swept away Saturday in Rajbari district, 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of the capital Dhaka, while four men drowned in the northwestern district of Sirajganj, the officials said.

Floods have submerged a third of Bangladesh _ a low-lying delta nation _ in the past two weeks and killed 247 people across South Asia.

More than 3 million people have been affected in India, Bangladesh and Nepal since the monsoon rains hit in mid-June. Rain-swollen rivers have inundated tens of thousands of homes. Surging waters also have drowned livestock, swamped rice fields and submerged roads and rail tracks, disrupting communications in many parts of Bangladesh and India's northeast.