Landslides kill 88 in southeast Bangladesh
Heavy monsoon rains and landslides have killed at least 88 people in southeast Bangladesh, burying many in their homes as they slept, authorities said Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Rangamati district administration said at least 60 people were killed in a series of landslides there alone.
“The recovery work is still going on. The death toll could rise as many areas still remained cut off,” the head of the Department of Disaster Management Reaz Ahmed told AFP news agency.
Ahmed said disaster response teams had been deployed to the affected areas to reinforce recovery work.
Police ordered the evacuation of thousands of people living in slums at the base of hills in the neighbouring district of Chittagong, where 23 people have been confirmed dead.
At least 126 people were killed in that district when a massive landslide buried a village a decade ago.
Traffic in the capital Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh’s major port city, has also been disrupted by the torrential rains.
