Pakistan offers all-out support to Bangladesh after floods maroon millions

• PM Shehbaz offers support in letter to Bangladesh's Yunus.
• Pakistan ready to help in every way in this difficult time: PM.
• Bangladesh among countries most vulnerable to climate change.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday offered Pakistan's all-out support to Bangladesh after the relentless monsoon rains and subsequent flooding killed 15 people and affected millions in the South Asian country.

At least 15 people have been killed in the neighbouring country while 4.5 million affected by floods following heavy rains, the disaster management and relief ministry said Friday.

The prime minister offered the support in a letter written to Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus.

Expressing deep grief and sorrow over the recent disastrous flood situation, PM Shehbaz said the sympathies of the entire Pakistani nation were with the government and people of Bangladesh.

"We stand with the people of Bangladesh who lost their loved ones, homes and jobs due to flood," he said.

Acknowledging the bravery and courage of the Bangladeshis in the face of adversity, the premier expressed hope that the country will come out of this challenge soon under Yunus' leadership.

The prime minister said that Pakistan was ready to help Bangladesh "in every way in this difficult time".

The South Asian nation of 170 million people, crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, has seen frequent floods in recent decades and is among the countries most vulnerable to disasters and climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.

A bulletin from the disaster ministry on Friday said: "4.5 million people have been affected, and 15 people have died across the country."

Nearly 190,000 others were taken to emergency relief shelters, according to the bulletin.

Altogether, 11 of the country's 64 districts were affected by the flooding, the bulletin added.

Feni, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of the main port city of Chittagong, was worst-hit.

"It's a catastrophic situation here," rescue volunteer Zahed Hossain Bhuiya, 35, told AFP in Feni. "We are trying to rescue as many people as we can."

The army and the navy have been deployed, with speedboats and helicopters rescuing those stranded by the swollen rivers.

— With additional input from AFP