GUWAHATI, India/Dhaka - Flood waters unleashed by fresh rains swept into the largest city in India's northeast on Wednesday and further submerged low-lying parts of the Bangladeshi capital.

The worst floods in South Asia in over a decade have killed about 460 people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and made millions homeless.

Scores of people in Guwahati, the commercial capital of the Indian state of Assam, moved out of their homes after the swollen Brahmaputra river spilled over its banks.

"We are in knee-deep water and it is still rising. We will go to stay with relatives," said resident Kamal Choudhury.

Nearly nine million of Assam's 26 million people are either homeless or marooned, a government official said in the latest estimate of the number of people affected by floods this year.

The government had earlier put the number of people made homeless by the rains at two million, but the official said this only included people staying in government relief camps. Tens of thousands of homes, made of bamboo and straw have been washed away by waters sweeping across 25 of Assam's 26 districts.

Hundreds of animals, including rhinocerous and wild elephants in three of Assam's wildlife sanctuaries, have also perished in the floods that began early this month, a forest official said.

The rains have caused rivers to burst their banks, triggered landslides and forced thousands to evacuate in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and left thousands more trapped in their homes awaiting rescue.

Fresh rains lashed Bangladesh triggering flooding in more parts of the capital and the northern parts of the country.

Water levels rose further in Dhaka where at least 1.5 million people have been stranded in submerged low-lying areas. Dhaka has a population of 10 million.

All road and train traffic between Dhaka and the flooded districts in the southwest, north and the northeast remained suspended. The airport in the northeastern city of Sylhet is also closed.

The floods in Bangladesh have left 400,000 people homeless, a government official said.

"It is the biggest flood after 1988, which submerged two-thirds of the country and killed 3,500 people," a disaster management official said.

Residents of northern Bangladesh reported serious fuel shortages after supplies stopped from the main depot in the port city of Chittagong because of flooded highways.

(Agencies via Xinhua)