04 January 2004	Sunday	11 Ziqa'ad 1424

DHAKA, Jan 3: At least 56 more people shivered to death in Bangladesh on Saturday, putting the toll from the mild cold wave sweeping across the country to 109 during the last three days.

Although mercury went up by one to two degrees Celsius in some places, the chilling cold persisted over the country, adding to the sufferings of the homeless, children and the old.

Overcast sky, fog and biting winds from the northeast disrupted normal life in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

Thirteen people died in Pabna district, 10 in Thakurgaon, four each in Rajshahi and Natore, three each in Noakhali, Jamalpur and Shariatpur.

Over the last couple of days, the country also experienced persistent drizzle in some parts, increasing the sufferings of the poor.

Agencies add: A three-week cold front in parts of South Asia has killed at least 300 people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, with winter fog fracturing air, road and rail traffic.

India's overall death toll rose to 215 as 10 more people died on Friday in Uttar Pradesh, where the fog compounded misery by disrupting road and rail traffic.

The latest deaths in Uttar Pradesh brought the state's cold wave toll to 146.

In adjoining Bihar state, the chill has claimed 36 lives, with hundreds more hospitalized with cold-related diseases.

At least 13 people have died in Madhya Pradesh, where relief officials are reporting shortages of shelter for homeless people.

At least a further 20 people have been killed in vehicle accidents on northern Indian highways due to thick fog accompanying the winter weather.

Dense fog also continued to hit rail and road traffic on Saturday, with most trains running behind schedule by hours and hundreds of passengers stranded at various stations across northern India, a spokesman for the state-run utility said. Weather-monitoring officials attribute the cold snap to westerly disturbances over the Himalayas.

Five people have died from the current cold in the hills around the capital, Kathmandu.