Disease fear looms in S Asian flood zones

At least 23 million people have been hit by the floods in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, which began with the annual monsoon rains mid-June, according to latest estimates by authorities in the four countries.

The total number of dead or missing in India stands at 178, in Nepal 86, in Bhutan three and 16 in Afghanistan, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Media reports say the overall toll may be far higher.

Tens of thousands of people in India's eastern Bihar and northeastern Assam states, meanwhile, are trapped on rooftops or high ground awaiting rescue, as the army and airforce mount massive operations to reach remote areas and airdrop food packets and water purifying tablets.

Police in Guwahati, the capital of northeastern Assam state, said at least six more people drowned overnight, including four children trying to escape the floodwaters in Assam's Kamrup district on a bamboo raft.

Another two people were drowned overnight when their boats capsized in separate incidents in the eastern Assam district of Dhemaji.

"The flood situation still remains very critical with nearly nine million people uprooted from their homes," Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi told AFP.