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MANIKGANJ, Bangladesh, Sunday (Reuters)

In Bangladesh there is a saying that vultures only arrive during or before something bad.

Most times, the saying has proved right, said Rafiqul Islam, a villager who lives in Manikganj district north of Dhaka where thousands have been left homeless from relentless flooding.

About 50 vultures sat on a dead rain-tree on the Dhaka-Manikganj highway, drawing the attention of Rafiqul Islam and other frightened villagers.

"The vultures have nothing to eat around here at this time. Then why they are here?" Rafiqul Islam said.

"They (vultures) fly in only to feed on corpses or animal carcases. Or they come as a harbinger of a bad time ahead - like a famine or a disaster claiming many lives," said Manikganj villager Shamsuddin Ahmed.

About half of Bangladesh is underwater from the worst monsoon flooding in years and officials say the death toll is about 70 - small compared to floods in 1988 that killed more than 3,500 people. The extent of flood-related diseases or illness such as diarrhoea has been relatively small, officials say but medical officers warn the situation may change for the worse when floodwaters recede fully.

And it is the worry about what could happen next that was foremost on the minds of villagers in Manikganj, 65 km (40 miles) from the Bangladesh capital, who feel the vultures are possibly a pointer to worse to come.

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