Dhaka - The Bangladeshi capital was placed on full alert yesterday as massive flood waters threatened to break through a vital embankment protecting more than a million of the city's residents.
"All relevant agencies including army and civil engineers have been asked to be on top alert as the DND (Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra) embankment is under severe pressure," an official with the Flood Forecasting Centre said.
Witnesses said hundreds of civil and security workers were trying to reinforce partly eroded sides of the embankment with sandbags and bamboo walls.