Indians gather around a bonfire to keep warm on a cold and foggy morning in New Delhi. (Manish Swarup, AP)
Dhaka – A cold snap which saw temperatures drop on Thursday to their lowest point in Bangladesh’s post-independence history has killed around 80 people, officials said.
The weather office said the lowest temperature was recorded at 3ºC in the northern town of Syedpur and the Red Crescent said hospitals were packed with patients suffering respiratory illness.
A homeless Indian girl is wrapped in a blanket as she sleeps on the ground on a cold morning in New Delhi. (Kevin Frayer, AP)
Shah Alam, deputy head of the weather office, said the last time the temperature had dropped below 3ºC was in February 1968 when Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan.
“The temperature is the lowest in Bangladesh’s history,” he said.
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A man warms himself by a fire as another wraps himself up with a blanket to keep out the cold. (Saurabh Das, AP)
The Red Crescent Society said impoverished rural areas had been worst hit as many people could not afford warm clothing or heating.
“They are not prepared for such extreme weather. Many could not even go to work,” the society’s general-secretary Abu Bakar said.
More than 100 people have died of exposure as northern India deals with historically cold temperatures. (Dibyangshu Sarkar, AFP)
“According to the reports of our district offices and local administrations about 80 people have died due to cold-related diseases such as respiratory problems, pneumonia and cough,” Bakar added.
Bangladesh, which is a tropical country, normally sees temperatures fall to around 10ºC at this time of year.
The weather office said temperatures were expected to rise from Saturday.
Aftermath News 
