Six people, including two children, died in northern Bangladesh because of cold-related diseases and circumstances while skies in many parts of the country remained covered in a thick fog since early Monday.

Between Sunday and Monday 3,226 people sought treatment at different government hospitals in Rangpur division for cold related illness while 1,356 people were also admitted.

Rangpur divisional commissioner Abdul Wahab Bhuiyan urged affluent people to join the government in providing warm clothes to the poor people in northern districts.

He said that they already distributed more than 1 lakh quilt against the demand of about nine lakh.

New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that civil surgeon offices at Lalmonirhat and Rangpur confirmed three deaths from pneumonia on Monday.

The deceased were identified as Nayeem, 2, a resident of Char Gokunda, Lalmonirhat, nine-month-old Julhash, a resident of Kaonia, Rangpur and Samiron Bewa, 63, a resident of Pirgachha, Rangpur.

Rangpur divisional health office also confirmed two other deaths from burns suffered by two people in a fire lit to stay warm.

One of the deceased was identified as Khejmoti Begum, 46, a resident of Mohendranagar, Lalmonirhat while the other fire victim was identified as Abdus Samad, 70.

In the last two weeks seven people died in a fire lit outdoors to keep warm in the poverty ridden northern districts where the lack of warm clothes is a household problem.

Rangpur civil surgeon Hirombo Kumar said a transport worker, Rais Uddin, was killed after a truck drove into a roadside ditch in Piganj amid poor visibility.

Dense fog forced authorities to divert and delay airline flights and shut down ferry services across the Padma, keeping hundreds of vehicles with thousands of passengers stranded on either side of the river for hours.

Different parts of Bangladesh, especially northern, western and central regions, were cloaked in a thick fog throughout Monday with meteorologists warning that the fog may not lift in the next two days.

Thousands sought treatment for cold-related diseases at government hospitals across Bangladesh every day, especially in northern districts, and hundreds needed to be hospitalised.