Swollen rivers wreak havoc in UP

New Delhi: Twenty more deaths were reported in flood-related incidents with several rivers flowing above the danger mark and posing a threat to more than 1,000 villages in the affected districts. Nine persons in Bahraich, eight in Shravasti and two in Balrampur died in flood-related cases in the past 24 hours while one casualty was reported in Lakhimpur. Floods have hit the districts of Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Lakhimpur, Barabanki, Sitapur, Faizabad and Azamgarh in the state. According to the Sharavasti Additional District Magistrate, eight persons were killed in separate incidents due to floods in the Bhinga and Ikauna tehsils of the district while four persons who were swept away in flood waters are yet to be traced. In Balrampur and Barabaki, two persons each drowned in separate incidents in swollen rivers while, in Lakhimpur, the dead body of a three-year-old girl was recovered from a village, said Lakhimpur SDM, Narendra Singh.