In Bangladesh, the army has begun a massive rescue operation to try to save as many as possible of an estimated two and a half million people marooned in isolated ares by floodwaters.

SYNOPSIS: These troops were in northern Bangladesh large areas of which vanished under floodwater last week when the country's two biggest rivers, the Ganges and Padma, overspilled their banks. The immediate mission was to distribute food supplies to the populace.

Relief volunteers are helping the troops. Thousands who lost their homes, cattle and most of their belongings, are being housed in improvised camps.

The flood refugees are surviving on food the government is distributing, but reports say it is nowhere near enough to provide even a subsistence diet. Using all the vessels they can muster, troops have been patrolling areas that appear to have been turned into an inland sea. Reports said the Ganges and Padma have drooped, but the damage and privation were already widespread.