14 killed in Bangladesh due to landslides, flashfloods

At least 14 people were killed and over 35 others injured in a series of landslides and flashfloods triggered by torrential rains in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said on Saturday.

The incessant rains, caused by a virtually persistent low in the Bay of Bengal, in the past two days and resulting in the swelling of rivers have also marooned millions of people in several hundred villages in the region.

The  waters submerged dozens of villages in western and northwestern districts delinking the road communication of the marooned areas with their administrative units, officials said.

At least seven people were buried alive under tonnes of mud, while others were drowned in gushing waters from upstream and crushed under trees on Friday. Mudslides injured over 35 people in the region.

The scenic sea resort district of Cox’s Bazar and neighbouring Bandarban hill district were the worst scenes of the disaster, they said.

“The low over Bangladesh and adjoining area persists. Monsoon is active over Bangladesh and vigorous over North Bay,” said the MeT office on Saturday in their latest bulletin.

The state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on the other hand reported that the Ganges-Padma basin covering the northwestern and parts of central Bangladesh and rivers in south-eastern hill basins are in “rising trend”.

Authorities have launched an eviction campaign dismantling dozens of shanties built on hill slopes in the port city of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar and relocated dozens of families to makeshift shelters.

Earlier, experts feared a severe flood could engulf Bangladesh next month if rivers in all the major basins outburst their banks simultaneously. 

Image: The swelling of rivers, caused by the incessant rains, have also marooned millions of people in several hundred villages in the region. Photograph: Reuters