Six killed in Cox’s Bazar landslides amid relentless rain

Six people of two families died last night in separate landslides triggered by relentless rain in Cox's Bazar Sadar upazila and at a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila.

In Sadar upazila, Akhi Moni, 28, wife of Mizanur Rahman of Dakshin Dikkul, and her two daughters, Miha Jannat Naima, 12, and Latifa Islam, 9, were buried under a landslide.

In the camp at Hakimpara area of Ukhiya upazila, three brothers -- Abdur Rahim, Abdul Hafeez, and Abdul Waheed, died in the landslide.

Relatives of the Dikkul landslide victims reported hearing a loud noise from Mizanur's house around 2:00am during the heavy rain. When they arrived, they found his family buried under the debris, though Mizanur had been rescued alive.

Firefighters later recovered the bodies of his wife and two young daughters in the early morning.

Additional Commissioner of the Cox's Bazar Relief and Repatriation Commission, Shamsud Dauza Nayan, said three houses were destroyed by a landslide in Ukhiya's Camp 14 at Hakimpara due to heavy rainfall.

Three members of the same family died on the spot, he added.

Volunteers are currently conducting rescue operations, he said.

Cox's Bazar has been experiencing steady rain since last Wednesday, leading to waterlogging in several areas.

Abdul Hannan, assistant meteorologist at the Cox's Bazar Meteorological Office, said the Met office recorded 453 mm of rain in the 24 hours until noon today.

Local representatives and residents said that although the rainfall started at 9:00am yesterday, heavy downpour began at 12:30pm. After that, continuous heavy rain for 12 hours, brought the lives of the city's 8,00,000 residents to a standstill.

Such heavy rainfall has not been seen in the last 50 years, they said.